


Hope is the Thing With Feathers

by Hadrianus



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angel twins, Angel/Hunter Relationships (Supernatural), Bisexual Dean Winchester, Bisexual Sam Winchester, Castiel Gets New Clothes (Supernatural), Castiel Wears a Dress (Supernatural), Cuddly Castiel (Supernatural), Dean Winchester Deserves to be Happy, Fluff and Angst, Good Friend Crowley (Supernatural), Good Person Crowley (Supernatural), Holiday specials, I hope, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, Pining, Protective Dean Winchester, Queer Castiel (Supernatural), Smart Dean Winchester, Witch Crowley (Supernatural), afterthefall - Freeform, azymis has had more jobs than barbie, azymis is mom friend on the low, hunterangel, not 6000 years of pining but almost as good, samis, samis is endgame
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22795144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hadrianus/pseuds/Hadrianus
Summary: When God first created Azymisiel, the fledgling was mainly known as the Archangel of Love, Purity, and Childhood Innocence.Unfortunately, God forgot about him. This will prove to be a mistake. So when the Heavenly Host's treatment of the Winchesters becomes unreasonably hostile, he decides to step in. As Castiel's twin, there are some things he just won't stand for.He's not the same fledgling nearly everyone forgot about. His name is Azymisiel, the Archangel of Love, Purity, and Childhood Innocence, and Wrath. And he's changing the narrative, one step at a time.
Relationships: Azymisiel/Sam Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Ruby/Sam Winchester, Sam Winchester/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17





	1. In the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The creation of Azymis and Cas, dynamic twin duo!

**????** **Heaven**

Before God created the heavens and the earth, He made His angels. Each had different purposes; all for the betterment of this Earth he was making.

In addition to His archangels, he made two special angels who were slightly different.

Castiel, Angel of Thursday (not quite yet though, as the world is still new) and Azymisiel, his Archangel twin.

It was still a relatively new idea, twins, and it took quite a bit of energy to make them. Castiel was given just a small bit of free will; to see how it would work. Azymisiel was a fledgling; also a new idea.

Remph and Raziel were the first set of twins God made, and He loved them to bits. Twins seemed to be a great idea.

...

Azymisiel rubbed his eyes and opened them. The bright white surfaces almost blinded him with the intensity of the reflected light.

"Hello young one." a soft voice greeted. The fledgling looked up. An immensely powerful figure loomed over him. Instantly, he knew that this being was his father. Movement beside him caught his attention and he looked at what could only be his brother. He looked back up at his father questioningly.

God looked down on his newest creations. They looked almost exactly identical, except Azymisiel had a vessel already and his wings were champagne pink. His vessel was small, and had large pale blue eyes, curly black hair, and cherubic features that could make even the hardest of angels melt.

Azymisiel caught his brother's attention and lifted up his arms. Instinctively, Castiel picked him up.

"Castiel." Azymisiel said happily, playing with the elder's dark wings.

Both God and Castiel looked at Azymisiel in shock, not expecting for the small fledgling to be capable of speech.

God chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "I shouldn't be surprised he knows his twin's name. Come Castiel, the others will want to meet you two."

God led the twins to where the other angels are gathered. They all look up at their entrance, curious.

"Hi." Azymisiel said, waving shyly. Castiel remained silent, eyes flitting from angel to angel as he gathered their names and ranks.

"This is Azymisiel and Castiel. They are twins." God announced.

"Like Remph and I?" Raziel, the Archangel of Knowledge asked.

"Precisely."

"Then why does Azymisiel look different?" Morningstar asked.

"He is a fledgling, the first, in fact. I have also crafted a vessel for him because he is so young. This does not make him weak, it simply means his power will grow with him."

Armisiel, the Angel of Birth perked up. "So... like an infant or small child?" he asked.

"More like a small child, yes."

Remp, Angel of Time, appeared in the room with a woosh of his large wings.

"Ah yes. Castiel, Seraphim of tears, temperance, and Angel of Thursday, and Azymisiel, Archangel of childhood innocence, Love and purity. I was wondering when they'd come about," he said in that drawling way of his.

"Remph!" Azymisiel exclaimed, smiling cheekily and reached out to him. Remph smiled, taking the fledgling from Castiel gently.

"Hello tiny one. Such power you have." Remph stared into the fledgling's eyes, as if searching for something. Azymisiel stared back calmly, with his head tilted to the side.

Then, Azymisiel smiled a blinding smile. "Remph, why is a raven like a writing desk?" he asked. Remph, slightly surprised, replied, "I don't know, but I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

"Tea party!"

Remph put the tiny archangel down with a gentle smile. "Hold on young one, there are some angels you must meet first." he told him. Azymis nodded knowingly, and turned away from him.

Squinting his eyes, he examined the angels before him. After a minute, he grabbed Castiel's hand and pulled him over to the other archangels.

Remph and God went back to the Nursery together.

"He is more than just an archangel," the Angel of Time stated once the door closed behind them. God simply nodded, beginning another Archangel. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you make him that powerful? Do you miss her _that_ much? She's not gone yet. Do you you know what you have done? You-," Remph stopped as the realization dawned on him. God didn't see the horrified face aimed in his direction.

"It's for the greater good, Remp. And you're wrong. He'll be better than her. And maybe he's what I've been missing, you know?"

Remph shook his head, and left.

Back in the space he shared with his twin sister, he realized something. Something that not even God himself perceived. There was a price to pay for creating Azymis; one his father didn't even know he paid.

And Remph would make sure it would bite Him in the ass when He turned on them.


	2. In Eden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azymis gets his first look at Eden and is in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short, I know. And terrible, but this is the best I could come up with.

**0001 Heaven**

  
"Let me show you something, Azymisiel." Remp said, taking the fledgling by the hand. Remph knew without his small interference, Azymisiel would not be ready for what is to come in the coming years.

It was his sworn duty to prepare the young archangel for what he would have to face in his future. Mistakes would be made, as children do often make; but he would guide his charge always, even as the fledgling felt he was adult enough not to need him.

"Can Pura come?" Azymisiel asked eagerly, bouncing on his heels. The elder angel startled from his inner monologue. Remph thought it over briefly, calculating the outcomes of the squirrel-hybrid tagging along. "No, but Nevaeh can come." he replied.

Azymisiel whistled sharply. The dappled Heavenhound burst through the clouds to their right, tossing his head. Nevaeh padded over to Azymisiel and Remph, nuzzling the smaller angel. Azymis laughed, kissing his furry cheek.

Remph lifted up the Archangel and placed him on Nevaeh's back.

"Where we goin'?"

"Eden. The Garden of Paradise." Remph answered. Azymisiel's eyes lit up in excitement. "Eden! That place on Earth Daddy created for the humans! I've wanted to go to Earth for centuries!"

"I know. You should be able to see it, it'd do you some good."

Remph unfurled his wings and took off. Nevaeh followed suit, trailing behind him. Azymisiel held on to the Heavenhound's mane, grinning widely.

Pillowly white clouds whipped past them quickly, and Azymisiel watched them raptly, so he didn't notice them passing from Heaven to Earth's Atmosphere. Otherwise, he would have seen the entrance of the wormhole they went through.

...

The first sight of Eden is one Azymisiel will never forget. From above, the green of the plants and the bright colors were as bright as freshly shined jewels. The animals looked like small toys and the streams look like ribbons left on the ground.

He felt at peace immediately, like he'd finally came home. This feeling wasn't something he'd ever felt before but he loved it, what ever it was. Had he mentioned it to the Angel of Time, the elder would have been hard pressed to find an answer that would placate the archangel without telling him the truth.  
  
  


When they landed, it looked even more beautiful to Azymis than anything he's ever seen.

"Wow." he said in awe, jumping off of his Heveanhound's back. Nevaeh sniffed at his archangel before wandering off.

The Archangel's feet touched the ground and sudden sensations flooded through his very being. He could feel every single animal around him and the love his brother Ariel put into the scenery.

"You like it?" Remph asked. "No," The older gave the younger an incredulous look. The younger turned around to face his older brother. "I LOVE it! It's so beautiful Remph!" Azymis yelled, grinning.

Remph relaxed, glad to hear that response. A small hand grabbed his and pulled him forward, deeper into the garden.

"C'mon Remph!"

Azymis wanted to explore this brand new world that made his very core sing with exultation.


	3. Happy Halloween, ya filthy animals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Dean, meet Azymis.

**PRESENT DAY**

Azymis flies in before his brother can take off and plops down on the bench right next to him. "I see why he likes you so much. You're cute. Not my type, but still undeniably cute." he says. Both Castiel and Dean jump.

"Azymis, what are you doing here on Earth?" Castiel asks, confused.

"Right now? Teasing you like the good baby brother I am." Azymis replies cheekily.

"I thought you were in Heaven? And why are you here?"

"I'm _here_ because I live here. And I was only in Heaven because you were coming to see me. Goodness knows I wouldn't be able to see you otherwise; it's not like you have a phone. And before you ask, Nevaeh and Pura are living on one of my properties, perfectly content." Azymis replies.

"But you know nothing ab-"

"I've been living on Earth since The Garden. Earth is pretty much my domain, like how The Garden is Ariel's. It's-my-sandbox-and-you're-just-sitting-in-it kinda shitck, if you catch my drift."

"How did you get into Eden?" Castiel asks, completely bewildered by the archangel before him. He wasn't anything like the archangel he thought he knew. "Ask Remph." Azymis replies.

"I'm sorry to cut this reunion short, but ah, just who the hell are you?" Dean asks gruffly. Unperturbed, Azymis smiles brightly at him and moves to sit next to him.

"My name is Azymisiel, but you can call me Azymis. I'm Feather boy's twin. Here," He grabs a pen from his pocket and writes his number down on Dean's hand. "That's my cell, and if for whatever reason, I don't answer, pray to me. Now, I have a very important appointment with my totally delicious but unfortunately straight groomer. Call if you have any questions, but not when I'm with Marchi. Ciao!" Azymis jogs away quickly to his car. Castiel stared after his twin, looking quite lost.

" _That's_ your twin?" Dean says, turning back to Castiel. But Castiel is already gone, having returned to Heaven to question Remph.

...

Dean looks down at the number on his hand. "She said to call if we had questions, and I have questions."

"Are you we should do that? How do you know she's not in league with Uriel and Castiel?" Sam asks. "Because, I can just tell okay?" Dean replies.

"How? How can you tell?"

Azymis flies in, and plops down on a chair. "Gee boys. With how hard you were thinking about me, I thought you were having wet dreams." he drawls.

Sam and Dean both jump, pointing guns in his direction. Dean lowers his after he sees who it is.

"How the hell did you get in here?"

"I flew in, duh. Angels fly fast enough to phase through solid objects. And I'm the fastest angel in Heaven, so a locked door ain't nothing to me. Sam, could you please put the gun down? What is this, a holdup?"

Sam's jaw ticks, but he slowly lowers the gun. "Who the hell are you?"

"Azymisiel, Archangel of Love, Childhood Innocence, Purity and Wrath. I'm not really in the bible because I didn't really participate with Heaven, just stayed out of the way. I was still a fledgling, though nearly grown. But when they mention Father's Wrath, they mean me. Castiel is my twin, Angel of tears, what you now call abstinence, the death of kings, and Thursday. You can call me Azymis. And I am a guy; most of the time anyway." the archangel replies.

"What do you want from us? Uriel and Castiel want us to stop the seals from breaking, so what do you want?" Sam asks.

Azymis leans forward, adopting a serious expression. "Same as you. To protect my home, and the good people who live in it. I've been living on Earth since The Garden. Seen the humans here flourish and thrive from a handful of primitive people to exquisite kingdoms and countries. I don't want to go back to Heaven. And I'll _damned_ if I'm forced to."

"I'll drink to that." Dean says, tipping his bottle in the Archangel's direction.

"Don' let them bastards get you down." Azymis replies. 

"I thought angels were righteous and holy? Why are they such assholes?" Sam asks.

Azymis sighs and leans back. "They weren't always this way. Father was kind, a good dad at first. Everyone was a whole lot holier before. Then Lucifer fell, and everything changed. Father grew distant, and left once the bible was finished. Heaven changed completely then. Most angels were drafted into the garrisons and were trained to be soldiers. Castiel was one of those angels. The drafted angels don't remember much about Heaven prefall, so they don't remember me. Castiel only remembers me because of our twin bond. Whenever he could get away, he would meet me in the Garden. Admittedly, that wasn't very often. First and foremost, the drafted angels are near perfect warriors, though I see now some are corrupted."

"Wait. You mean God's not in Heaven? Then who's giving the orders?"

"I honestly don't know. I checked out soon afterwards. I presume Joshua is, since he's the Voice of God. I'm guessing Father left him instructions; otherwise, they're flying blind. It's a frightening thought; Godless angels." Azymis replies with a shiver.

"Why did you leave Heaven?" Sam asks.

"Once I was able to see Eden for myself, I fell in love with Earth. It was absolutely beautiful; and I wanted explore it all. And soon, I did. I've been all over the world, several times over. I really like this place."

"Really? _Earth_ is better than Heaven?"

"Way better," Azymis crosses his legs underneath his pleated skirt. "Heaven was never home to me. It didn't have the warmth and love that Earth does. I was only 7 thousand years old (which is about 7 in human years), but I knew that I'd stay here for the rest of my life." he tells them.

"And you're really Castiel's twin?" Dean asks, wanting confirmation. The archangel definitely looks almost identical to Castiel, but they have different ranks.

"Yep. We were created at the same time. Cassie was completed half a second early, which makes him the older twin."

"Why do you have different ranks?" Sam asks.

Azymis shrugs. "I don't really know. Father never explained that to us. And we're the only pair of twins who are 'fraternal' in that way. Otherwise, we're identical in both vessel and Grace signature. Remph and Raziel never seemed to know why either," he replies. Azymis stands up. "If that's all, I'll take my leave."

Dean waves awkwardly. Azymis waves back and flies away.


	4. Therapy Session 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azymis gives Dean a therapy session and ends up in tears himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if Dean's a little ooc.

Azymis calls Dean, who picks up on the second ring.

"I didn't give you my number just to decorate your contacts," the archangel says into the phone. In his confusion, Dean doesn't respond.

Azymis sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Dean, I _am_ a licensed **psychologist**. And I've renewed it every five years to keep it up to date. I've always had a 99.9 success rate with my patients."

"What?" Dean asks.

"Winchesters are fucking dumb ass idiots I fucking _swear_ \- You need _**therapy**_ , I am a _**therapist**_ **;** _therefore_ I can help with more than just my amazing friendship." Azymis explains, feeling quite exasperated.

"Azymis, I don't need a damn angelic shrink. I'm fine." Dean grunts.

Azymis promptly flies to Dean's location and lands behind him.

"No you're not. You can't lie to me."

Dean whirls around, pointing a gun at him. "What the hell Azymis?!" he yells, lowering his gun.

"Our therapy sessions will be one hundred percent confidential. Unless you want me to, I wouldn't breath any of this to a soul. Scout's honor," Azymis promises. "Infact, we can go to my office if you don't want to be overheard. No one will be able to get in except for us. I even angel proofed it. Hell, I can't fly in there."

"And what do we need to talk about so damn bad?"

"Dean, you went to _Hell_. I know you remember what happened; there is no _forgetting_. You can lie to Sam, but you can't lie to me. If you don't want to tell me everything, then don't. But you have to say something. Otherwise, all these _amazing_ therapist abilities will go to waste." Azymis tells him, crossing his arms.

"You're not going to let this rest, are you?" Dean asks with a heavy sigh. Azymis merely raises his eyebrows in response.

"Alright then. Let's get this shit over with."

"That's the spirit!" the archangel says, beaming at the hunter. Without warning, he grabs Dean's shoulder and flies to his house, landing right in front of his office door.

The shiny plaque reads:

DR. PROFESSOR AZYMIS   
PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST/PSYCHIATRIST 

Dean gives him a look. 

"What? I had the time and the resources. I decided to put it to good use. Besides, you haven't even seen all of my degrees." Azymis says, unlocking the office and opening the door. 

The office has mahogany paneling laid over the extra precautions Azymis built into the walls. Large Chinese Evergreens and Guiana Chestnuts sit in decorative pots in three corners of the room, looking pristine. In the farthest corner is a large plush lounge with a chair next to the head. To the right of the chair is a simple desk with a rock garden on it.

Azymis closes the door behind them and motions for Dean to lie down on the lounge. 

"Really?" Dean asks, raising an eyebrow at it skeptically.

"What? It works. Besides, it's way more comfortable than sitting in some hard ass chair. Unless you'd rather...."

Grumbling, Dean mutters, "No." before sitting down on the lounge. It's alot softer than it looks, and Dean nearly sinks into it. Azymis bites back an amused chuckle and sits his chair.

Dean still knows the archangel is amused and he glares at him. Then he remembers something he said earlier and that puzzled him. "Hey Azymis, why did it sound like you were speaking from experience when you said there is no forgetting what happened in hell?" he asks. 

Azymis curses in all the languages he knows before sighing tiredly. "My corporation, or vessel, was created especially for me by Father. So, even if it's destroyed, it will reform as long as my consciousness is entact. 

The first time I accidentally went to Hell, I was young, about ten to a human. I was on Earth, with the Nephilium. They were so _young_ , younger than I, and they were practically orphans! But Father _**hated**_ them. 

So there I was, trying to protect them, and this huge wave comes out of _**nowhere**_ , and the children are _screaming_ \- I sent them to Remph and Raziel. I couldn't fly away fast enough-" For a second, the panic overwhelms him, and he has to pause. "When I woke up, I was floating. My body was gone, and it was like, I assume what a snail feels without a shell. Then there were three doors before me: one black, one grey, and one white. Curious, I chose the black one. I wish I hadn't. The things I _saw_ \- Raziel said I stopped talking for a century." Azymis finishes, before conjuring up a cup of chamomile tea and sipping from it. His hands shake slightly, but he grips the mug tighter.

A hand on his shoulder makes him jump, and he looks up into worried green eyes. "I'm not one for chick flick moments, but you look like you need a hug. C'mere." Dean tells him. Without another word, the puts the mug down and launches himself at the hunter. 

Dean falls backwards due to the angel's strength, but he keeps a good grip on the brunette. Azymis instantly starts sobbing, clutching his jacket tightly in his fists. The hunter is briefly reminded of a younger Sam, but shakes the image away. 

_Azymis isn't Sam, but he needs_ _me_ , he reminds himself. Dean adjusts their position so they're more comfortable and rubs Azymis's back until he calms down. 

They stay like that for a while, until Azymis mumbles, "Sorry." into Dean's shirt. "It's fine. You rub your fingers together when you're stressed, I've noticed. You were doing it as you told me what happened." he says. He wanted to ask about the other times, but he didn't want to make the archangel cry again. 

Azymis laughs, rubbing his eyes. "Of course you'd notice a tick I didn't even know I had. And you made me cry," he pouts for a second. "This was supposed to be you telling me about Hell, not the other way around." he says. 

"I guess we're both survivors, huh?"

"Yeah. You want to talk about something else?"

"Nah, you shared your story, so I'll spill mine. No time like the present, right?"

"You really don't-"

"Shhh. I'll spare you the torture details, 'cause I don't think my shirt can take it. But I got tired, and I...said yes to Alistar. And after tearing apart the first soul, I couldn't _stop_. I didn't want to _stop_. Azymis, I was beginning to _like_ it. I was turning into a _**demon**_. If Castiel hadn't come when he did, I would have been on my way to making deals with humans. And can't but think about how disappointed my parents and Sam would be to know what I did. I'm beginning to think I'm no better than Ruby." Dean says.

Azymis crosses his arms. "Dean Michael Winchester you shut your trap this instant! Just because you tortured people, doesn't mean you're a demon. Those unfortunate souls made a deal with a demon, so they _knew_ what they were getting into on some level. As for you liking to tearing into them; you were in a high-stress environment and needed some form of release. It's not your fault. As for saying yes; Dean, there is only so much pain one can take and you did the best damn job you could. No matter what anyone says, it's not your fault Dean." he says sternly. 

  
"You really think that?"

"I believe that. Uriel is a fucking dick now anyway, and you're way better than he'll ever be."

Dean smirks. "I thought he was junkless?"

Azymis rolls his eyes good-naturedly and takes a sip from his mug. "Junkless or not, we should probably get you back to your room before Sam begins to worry."

***

After taking Dean back to the hotel he and Sam were staying at, he flies back to his house. 

Azymis locks up his office and goes to his room. He's quite exhausted, but he makes sure to peek into the nursery connected to his room. As expected, a small tuft of dark hair peeks out from the hand sewn blanket in the crib.

Relieved, he closes the door quietly and throws himself into bed.


	5. A Little R&R

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel gets some down time with Azymis, and later, Samael.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Castiel may be a little OOC at the end, but it's adorable!
> 
> Also the chapter is kind of short.

_"Castiel, oh brother of mine, please get your feathery gloriness down here."_ Azymis prays loudly.

After a minute, he hears his brother land behind him. The archangel whirls around excitedly, pulling his brother into a hug. "Hi Cassie! I missed ya." he says enthusiastically.

"Hello Azymisiel. It has been awhile since we've been face to face. What do you need?"

"Call me Azymis. And do I really need a reason to hang out with my big brother?" The younger twin pulls back, getting a good look at his brother. He can see past the vessel, to the fatigue tinging his brother's Grace.

"You wish to hang out with me?"

"Of course. You're my twin Cassie. No matter how upset I may get with you, nothing can change that," Azymis tells him. "I will always love you. Even if I say to the contrary."

Castiel feels himself becoming overcome with an emotion he's never felt. It's warm, almost burning but not quite. This feeling starts in his chest and spread to the tips of his wings.

"Thank you Azymis." he says, not completely understanding what he's thanking his twin for, but meaning it all the same.

The younger archangel grins, and the edges of his eyes crinkle ever so slightly. His Grace glows brightly, and brushes against his twin's in response.

"You don't ever have to thank me for a thing Cassie. We're twins, which is the best thing ever. Just ask Remph and Raziel," Azymis says, slipping his smaller hand into his brother's to pull him into his living room.

Castiel allows hisself to be pulled to the living room and sat down on the couch.

"I asked Remph about The Garden, and he said he brought you down, but only you could explain why you stayed," the elder twin says after a moment.

Azymisiel huffs, tucking his feet underneath Castiel's legs. Remph knew quite few things, being the Angel of Time and an Eternal, but he'd often said that looking at the Archangel's future was sometimes like looking at smoke. Unclear and hazy. The Angel also said that their Father could not see him directly, and that could be used to his advantage.

He thought back to Eden, a mere memory of happier times long ago. Things were simpler then, and the world wasn't quite so big.

⏳⏳⏳

_Azymisiel ran through Eden as fast as his short legs could take him. He could hear Nevaeh behind him, chirping as he chased the fledgling._

_The child squealed and flapped his tiny wings in an effort to go faster. This didn't work of course, because he hadn't grown his flight_ _feathers_ _yet._

_He ran through a bush and stumbled to a halt. Before him stood two humans, the ones his father created. Adam and Eve. They stared at him in shock, before the female smiled down at him and said, "Hello young one. What's your name?"_

_Azymisiel paused for a second. Remph told him not to talk to strangers, but these were Father's Creations. Did they really count as strangers?_

_No, he decided. He knew their names, and they had only politely asked for his. Remph had also taught him manners, and it would be impolite not to answer a direct question._

_"My name is Azymisiel. I am the Archangel of Love, Purity and Childhood Innocence." he said proudly._

_The man, Adam spoke up, "You're small for an Archangel." Eve elbowed her husband in the ribs for how ride the statement sounded. Azymisiel smiled and clasped his tiny hands behind his back. "That's because I'm a fledgling. One day I'll be big and strong like my brothers and sisters, but today is not that day." he explains._

_Nevaeh ran out of the bush behind Azymisiel and barrelled into his back. The pair tumbled head over heels and rolled to a stop at the humans' feet._

_"Are you okay?!"_

_Nevaeh and Azymisiel untangled themselves and the tiny archangel beamed up at them. "We're okay! This is my Heavenhound, Nevaeh. Ariel gave him to me for protection!" he told the humans._

_Eve tutted and lifted the archangel up to get a better look at him. Both of them felt something within them settled into place and suddenly everything was as it should be. She cleaned the grass from his hair and turned to her husband._

_"We shall watch him until one of his brethren comes."_

_Adam shrugged. He liked Azymisiel well enough, and his animal companion wasn't violent._

_When Remph came to take Azymisiel back to Heaven, he found the archangel with the humans. The archangel refused to go back to Heaven, saying the Earth was his home and he wanted to live there forever. The Angel of Time was surprised, but decided not to push the matter._

_⏳⏳⏳_

"I fell in love. First with Earth, and then with the inhabitants. Earth was very beautiful, and I could feel everything Ariel put into the plants and animals. And Adam and Eve, were one of the best things about The Garden. But even after they were banished, I watched them. Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel. I blessed Abel in and effort to balance out his brother. I had hoped they'd get along; but I now see they weren't fated to do that." Azymis tells him. 

"Are you happy?"

"Yes. I am happy with my choice, and the lives I've lived. Now, let's kick back, relax, and introduce you to the wonderful world of Disney."

  
Samael flew in, hearing his favorite word in the universe being uttered by his brother.

"I heard Disney. What are we watching?" he says, flopping down on the other side of Azymis. Castiel turns, surprised to see The Angel of Death.

"Samael...?"

"Hey Castiel. Azzy, Death sends his greetings," the ravenette says, kicking off his shoes and curling into Azymis's side. "Movie."

"Hey Mae. I think we'll start with Fox n' the Hound." the archangel replies, throwing an arm around his brothers.

The DVD player and TV turns on, playing the chosen movie. Castiel looks at his brothers. Samael has his head resting on Azymis's shoulder and his knees are tucked underneath the Archangel's legs. Azymis is now kneeling slightly, but his feet are still underneath his own.

Slowly, and hesitantly, Castiel mirrors Samael's position. When he lays his head on Azymis's chest, he hears a steady thumping noise. He startles for a moment, trying to figure out why his twin's chest sounds like that.

"That's my heart." Azymis chuckles. Castiel looks up at him, before pressing his his ear back to the Archangel's chest. He decides he likes the sound of Azymis's heart.

Just before he turns his attention to the TV, he feels a kiss being pressed on his hair. A warm feeling spreads through him again, and he smiles.


	6. Wishful Thinking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azymis and Babylonian magic don't mix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday!

Azymis quickly packs an overnight bag while Samael sits on his bed, watching.

"I don't understand. Why do you want to go? They probably won't need your help; the demon radar hasn't pinged for a while." the angel says.

"I know. But in order for them to trust me, I need to establish myself as a reliable person. Besides, I don't mind helping them. And it's like you said; no demon activity. So this will be a quick case. I'll be home before you know it poppet," the archangel explains. He presses a kiss to his brother's ravenette locks. "Ariel will be with you the whole time. Don't get into trouble please. You have the whole month off, and I'd hate to spend it reprimanding you."

"I'm an adult!" Samael protests.

"So you don't want the strawberries and cocoa I just made?" Ariel muses from the doorway.

"I do!" Samael abandons the pillow he'd been hugging and runs out of the room. Azymis and Ariel both shake their heads in amusement.

"He's come a long way, hasn't he?"

"Yes. The poor dear was nearly mute when we started the therapy." Azymis zips up the bag after making sure he has everything he'll need.

"Be safe." Ariel tells him. The younger kisses the Angel's cheek. "I will."

And with that, Azymis flies off to Dean and Sam's location.   
  
  


It doesn't take him long to spot Baby, and he finds her outside of a bar. Using a little Grace, he unlocks the trunk and put his bag inside. Once that's settled, he walks into the bar and finds the boys.

Gracefully, he pulls up another chair and sits down at their table. "Hey boys! How's it going?"

"Azymis! We didn't think you'd show," Dean says, surprised. "I'm a archangel of my word. If there's one thing Raziel and Remph taught me, it's to be as good as your word." Azymis replies.

"Hey Azymis, why would Uriel tell me to ask Dean what he remembers from Hell?" Sam asks. Azymis realizes that Dean must not have told Sam what happened. With this in mind, he replies; "Well, professionally speaking from my knowledge as a psychologist; my brother has grown into a narcissistic megalomaniac. Which is the worst kind of narcissist _and_ megalomaniac. But if Dean says he doesn't remember, then it could be a matter of his brain trying to protect himself from the mental trauma he received."

Sam accepts that answer, and Dean relaxes a bit. He shoots the archangel a grateful look when the younger hunter isn't paying attention.

"Alright, so where do we go from here?"

"I don't know. Uh, looks like it's been pretty quiet lately. No signs of demon activity," While Sam is talking, a pretty waitress walks by, catching Dean's eye. Azymis cuffs the back of his head to get him to pay attention. "No omens or portents I can see."

"Relatively quiet on my end. Not a whole lot of chatter." Azymis adds.

"That's good news for once," Dean says, taking a sip from his drink. "Yeah, just the typical smattering of crank UFO sightings and one possible vengeful spirit. Here, check this out," Sam turns the laptop around. Azymis scoots a little closer to Dean to get a better look at the article. "Up in Concrete, Washington. Uh, eye witness reports of a ghost that's been haunting the showers of a women's health facility."

Dean promptly chokes on his drink and spits it back into the glass.

"The victim claims that the ghost threw her down a flight of stairs. I can see you're _very_ interested-"

"Women? Showers? We gotta save these people." Dean says, throwing down a wad of cash on the table. Azymis rolls his eyes. "Upstairs brain Dean. _Upstairs_ brain." he reminds him.

***

Azymis and Dean drop Sam off at Lucky Chen's before heading to the women's health facility. 

  
"Remember Dean; upstairs brain."

"What do you mean upstairs brain?"

"When you heard women's health facility and thought of naked women; all the blood in your brain went down to your dick. For this case to go smoothly, it needs to go back up to your brain. Think with your head and not your dick."

"Alright, _fine_." Dean sighs, pulling into the parking lot of the health facility. "Thank you." Azymis says, getting out of the car. The hunter rolls his eyes before following suit.

"Do you feel anything?" Dean asks him.

Azymis closes his eyes and stretches his grace through the small building. There's a filmy feeling all over everything, and it makes his Grace recoil slightly. Other than that, there are no signs of ghosts. "No. Nothing ghostly anyway. Something else though, I don't know what it is. But there aren't any ghosts here." he says once his Grace is contained in his vessel once more.

Dean doesn't respond, so he turns around. The hunter is looking at him with an odd expression on face.

"What?"

"Your wings . . . they uh, showed up for a sec,"

"Oh." The archangel shrugs, and goes to sit down on the steps of the health facility. Dean stands there for a second in shock before scrambling after him.

"Oh? You have four wings, and they're massive! And all you have to say is _'oh'_?"

"Actually, I have three sets of wings."

"Three?! Are they all that shimmery whitish-pink color?"

"Yes. You're the first human to have seen them in person. I'm surprised," Azymis muses.

"Awesome."

A newspaper flies by, and Azymis snatches it out of the air. "Look at this, some lucky muck from this town won the lottery." He hands the paper to Dean. The hunter begins reading the paper, noting other 'lucky' people. 

"Well, you two pick up anything?" Sam asks, walking up to the health facility.

"Nope. No ghosts, or signs of ghosts." Dean and Azymis get up and join Sam. They walk away from the health facility and towards the bridge.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised. I kinda got the feeling back there that crazy pushed Mrs. Armstrong down the stairs."

"Something feels off." Azymis mutters.

A small child runs past them, with several larger children yelling and chasing him.

"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" Azymis yells. A couple of the kids stop, looking back at him. "Shut up lady! What the Hell are you gonna do about it?"

Anger flares up from deep within the archangel, showing in his eyes. The children run, and Azymis lunges towards them. Dean catches the ravenette by the waist and lifts him up. Surprised, Azymis doesn't struggle and allows himself to be set down facing away from the quickly disappearing children.

"How the Hell was I supposed to get a look at it? It grabbed me from behind and threw me into a tree!" a man yells at a police officer, catching the three's attention.

"Looks like something's going on over there." Dean says. All three of them pull out their badges and start walking towards the commotion.

"Yeah, okay, Gus. I understand you got shook up. Anyone would be. But don't you think it- Don't you think it had to be a bear?" the cop offers.

"I know a damn bear track when I see one! This thing didn't leave bear tracks, it's feet were huge!"

"Now Gus-"

"It was Bigfoot Hal - _The_ Bigfoot!" Gus protests. "Gus, you're not talking sense here," Hal replies.

"There's a Bigfoot out there damnit, and he's a son of a bitch!"

"'Scuse us, FBI." Sam says, flashing his badge. Dean and Azymis flash theirs as well.

"Sir, we're here about the possible Bigfoot sighting. A little odd, I know, but our branch is dedicated to odd cases." Azymis explains. "Sir, can you tell me exactly where this happened?" Sam asks.

"Yes I can."  
  
  
  
  
  


"What the Hell's going on in this town?" Dean asks as they walk to the location Gus described. "First there's a ghost that's not real, and now a Bigfoot sighting?"

"Well, every hunter worth his salt knows Bigfoot's a hoax." Sam replies.

"Eh," Azymis says. Both hunters look at him immediately. "Bigfoot isn't really Bigfoot _persay_. They're more or less similar to evolved Neanderthals. Ariel accidentally created them and didn't have the heart to destroy them. They're reclusive, and for the most part nonviolent. But there is something going on in this town for sure. I just can't put my finger on it."

Sam and Dean exchange looks over the Archangel's head. Azymis stops, looking at the large footprints on the ground.

"What do suppose made that?"

"A big ass foot, that's what."  
  


The footprints end at the river. On the other side is a liquor store. The hunters and the archangel cross the bridge and find more tracks, which lead to the back door of the liquor store. The back door is off it's hinges and covered in scratch marks.

"Alrighty then." Azymis remarks before entering the store. The floor is covered in various foods in varying states of consumption. The archangel wrinkles his nose. He can smell rotting cotton and musk permeating the air. Sam and Dean are behind him, looking around. Some of the alcohol bottles are smashed, which make a crunching sound when Azymis's chunky heels touch the floor.

"So what- Bigfoot breaks into a liquor store jonesing for some hooch?" Dean asks, crouching down to look at the bottles more closely. "Amaretto and Irish cream. He's a girl-drink drunk."

Azymis rolls his eyes and pulls out a few hundred dollars from the camisole underneath his shirt. He places it on a clean spot on the bar.

"Hey, check this out." Sam says. Dean pockets the liquor he picked up a walks over to his brother. Azymis follows suit, curious as to what the tall hunter found.

"He took the whole porno rack?" Dean asks incredulously. Sam spots a piece of dark fur and holds it up for Dean and Azymis to see.

"Well I'll say it again. What the Hell is going on in this town?"

"Nothing good is all I can say." Azymis replies.

There isn't much more to see; the place is trashed with no sign of the culprit, so they exit the store through the front door and sit on a bench outside.

"I got nothing." Dean sighs after a minute. "It's gotta be a joke, right?" Sam asks. "No. There's definitely something wrong here, I just can't see the bigger picture." Azymis replies.

"Is there even a picture?"

A little girl on a bike rides past them before the archangel can answer. A magazine falls out of the bright yellow basket attached to the back. Azymis gets up quickly and scoops up the magazine. It's definitely not child-friendly.

"A little young for _Busty Asian Beauties._ " Dean remarks, peering over Azymis's shoulder. The archangel incinerates it without a thought, and sets off in the direction the little girl went.

Sam and Dean follow him. The child leaves a box of liquor bottles and magazines at the back door and wheels the bike across the bridge.

"I'll meet you guys there." Azymis tells them before taking off.

Azymis conceals himself from human eyes and flies ten feet above the girl. Luckily for him, the ride is short. Flying that slowly puts a strain on his muscles.

The little girl leaves her bike in the yard and enters the house. The archangel lands infront of the house and texts Dean the address.

While he waits, he changes his outfit and makes himself visible once more. After a few minutes, the Impala pulls up next to him. Dean and Sam get out and stare at him.

"What are you wearing?" Dean asks.

Azymis looks down at his clothes. "What's wrong? I'm a child psychologist. This is what I'd generally wear for a day in the office." The archangel sees nothing wrong with his attire. It was only a white button up, a cream sweater vest, and grey slacks.

Dean shakes his head in reply. Azymis rolls his eyes and turns on his heels, stalking up the driveway. Both Winchesters get an eyeful of the Archangel's backside and do a double take.

"Are you guys coming, or are you you gonna stare at my butt? We gotta a job to do boys, ignore the cake."

Dean chokes and hurries after the archangel. Sam is more subtle with his recovery and quickly joins them. Azymis knocks on the door. The little girl answers the door almost immediately. "Hello?"

"Hi! Are your parents home?" the archangel asks.

"Nope."

The three exchange looks. Azymis can tell the girls telling the truth. Her parents are not in the house, which is very odd.

"Um, have you seen a tall, really, really furry-"

"Is he in trouble?!" she interjects. "Of course not sweetie," Azymis quickly replies.

"Not at all. We just wanted to make sure he's okay." Sam adds.

"Exactly."

"He's my teddy bear," she explains. "I think he's sick."

"We just so happen to be teddy bear doctors!" Azymis says. The little girl's face lights up, and the archangel aww's a little in his head. "Really? Can you _please_ take a look at him?"

And how could Azymis say no to a face like that? "Of course honey. Take us to your teddy bear."

The little girl leads them up the flight of stairs. "He's in my bedroom. He's really grumpy." she explains as she leads them down the hall.

She knocks on a door and calls out, "Teddy? There's some nice doctors here to see you." The little girl doesn't wait for a response and opens the door.

"Close the friggin' door!" Sitting on a small bed is a large, stuffed chocolate brown bear with laege, sparkling vermillion eyes that reflect anguish and pain.

"See what I mean?"

"What's your name honey?" Azymis asks, crouching down. "Audrey." she replies.

"Audrey, has your bear always been this way?" the archangel asks. Audrey shakes her head. "All I ever wanted was a teddy which was big, real, and talked. But now he's sad all the time. Not 'ouch' sad, but ouch-in-the-head sad, says weird stuff, and smells like the _bus_."

"How exactly did your teddy become real?" Dean asks her.

"I wished for it," Audrey replies.

"You wished for it?"

"At the wishing well."

Dean opens the door again.

"Look at this. You believe this crap?" the teddy bear asks, waving a beer at the tv. It was on the news channel, which displayed some fiery incident. "Not really," the hunter replies.

"It is a _terrible_ world," the stuffed bear laments. " _Why_ am I here?!"

"For tea parties!" Audrey snaps.

"Tea parties. Is that _all_ there is?"

Unsure of what to do, (because is it every day you see a depressed teddy bear?) Dean turns around slowly and closes the door behind him. The teddy begins to weep.

"Audrey, give us a second, okay?" Sam asks. Audrey nods silently. Azymis stands up and steps away with Dean and Sam.

"Are we...? Should we...? Are we going to kill this teddy bear?" Sam asks.

"How? Do we shoot it? Burn it?"

"I don't know, both?"

They turn to the archangel. Azymis throws his hands up. "I never encountered anything like this before. I don't even think that would work."

"Yeah, I don't want some giant, flaming, pissed-off teddy on our hands." Dean sighs. "Besides, I get the feeling that the bear isn't really the, you know, core problem here." Sam says.

Azymis turns around. "Audrey, where are your parents?"

"Well, my Mom wished they were in Bali, so I think they're in Bali." she replies.

"Okay sweetheart. Your teddy is sick. It's contagious, like cooties. So while we work on him, is there any place you could stay?" Azymis explains.

"Cooties are yucky! Mrs. Hurley lives down the street." Audrey replies.

"Great! We'd like you to stay there for a few days, okay?" Sam asks.

"Okay."

"Oh- and uh Audrey? Where is this wishing well?" Dean asks.

"Lucky Chen's."

***

Sam, Azymis, and Dean walk into the Chinese restaurant. Straight ahead is the wish well. The archangel feels like his wings have tar all over them. His Grace violently recoils away from the magic in the well.

"Are you sure it works?" Sam asks. "Oh yeah, that thing works alright." Azymis replies feebly. Both hunters look at him. The archangel has gone completely pale, a noticeable change change from his tanned complexion. 

"Azymis, are you- what's wrong?" Dean asks. "That fountain is _covered_ in whatever cursed magic that blankets this town." Azymis says. 

"Let's get you sitting down," Sam says, leading the archangel to an empty booth away from the fountain. Dean slips in next to him before Sam can sit down. 

"Thanks. Whatever's in that fountain is _bad_ news." Azymis says once he catches his breath. "What is it?" Dean asks. 

"I'd have to get a closer look to pinpoint the exact source." The archangel climbs out of the booth, ignores his stomach roiling and walks up to the owner of the restaurant. 

"Yes? How may I help you?"

He pulls out his health inspector's badge and shows it to the old man. "Sir, my partners and I," Azymis gestures to Sam and Dean. "Couldn't help but your wishing well is a potential breeding site for diesease. We're going to need you to close up shop so we can conduct a further investigation."

  
  
  


Once the shop has been cleared of people, the well is drained of water. Azymis puts on a pair of gloves and begins searching through the coins.

All seems normal until one of his fingers brush over a coin the size of a quarter. The archangel gags violently and almost loses his breakfast. Dean grabs a bucket from somewhere and shoves it underneath the brunette's mouth just in time. The second time he gags, he really does lose his breakfast. 

"There goes my English muffin." Azymis mutters when he's done. The restaurant owner looks at the archangel, worriedly. 

"Are you okay?" 

"Peachy. It's that old coin." He points at it, making sure not to touch it this time. "I don't recognize the markings." Sam says. 

Dean tries to pick it up, but it doesn't budge.

"Lift with your legs." Sam offers. His brother gives him a look before trying again. It still doesn't move. 

"How is that little mother welded on there?"

"It's a cursed coin. I don't think it's coming out there that easy." Azymis says, moving closer. He reaches out with his Grace and tries to move the coin. The archangel only gets a nasty magical shock for his troubles. 

Sam pulls a paper and pencil and makes a rubbing of the coin. "All right, here. You guys look into this." he says, handing the paper to Dean. 

"Where you going?"

"Something just occurred to me." Sam rushes out of the restaurant. 

Dean looks at Azymis, who shrugs.  
  


They walk back to the motel together, and Azymis brushes his teeth, trying to get the puke taste out of his mouth. 

"I didn't know you guys could get sick," Dean says, pulling out his laptop. The archangel spits out the paste and rinses out his mouth. "Normally, we don't. But I had a huge breakfast this morning, so," he replies, leaving the bathroom. 

Dean looks up from the laptop. "You eat?"

"Yep. Unlike all the other angels, who were born fully developed, I was born a fledgling. It's why I have my own vessel. I ate then, I still eat now. Only difference is I don't feel hunger anymore," Azymis picks up the rubbing and examines it. The cursed magic clings to the paper, but it isn't enough to make him sick. He can get a better read on the rubbing. "This is a Babylonian coin. One of Tiamat's, infact."

"Tiamat?"

"Babylonian god of primordial chaos. Ugh, I hated that guy. No wonder I puked my guts. His preists used some bad magic. These coins turn on a wishing well when thrown in and will grant every wish afterwards, but with a wicked twist. Like Teddy," Azymis explains. He takes Dean's laptop and begins searching for more information on Tiamat's coins. He finds an article that catches his eye. He hands the laptop back to Dean. "To reverse the effect, we need to find the first wisher and get them to pull it out." 

"Great." Dean groans. This case was turning out to be more work than he originally planned for. But with the archangel here, it was going alot smoother than it normally would've. 

"Hey, where am I going to sleep?" Azymis's voice breaks the hunter from his reverie. "You sleep?"

"My whole life. I mean, I don't need it _need_ it now, but I value my beauty rest thank you very much."

"Um..." Dean and Sam did not plan on Azymis actually staying with them, so they got the regular two queens they normally get.

"You mind if we share yours?" 

Dean blinks owlishly at the archangel. He hasn't shared a bed with anyone since he and Sammy were kids. One-night stands didn't count, 'cause he never saw them again. 

"Don't overthink it Dean. I can go get another room if need be." 

"No- it's cool."

"You sure?" Azymis asks. He doesn't want to pressure Dean into agreeing. The hunter nods resolutely. 

"Alright. I'm gonna take a shower real quick." The archangel grabs his toiletries and a pair of pajamas. 

"Why? 

"My wings feel like they're covered in tar."

"Speaking of wings, what color are Cas's? Just curious,"

"Dark blue."

"Okay," Dean says, nodding. Amused, the archangel shakes his head and enters the bathroom. He sets his things down, and turns on the shower.  
  
  
  


Azymis walks out of the bathroom, drying his hair. Sam and Dean are talking about the coin. He half tunes in on the conversation as he looks through his overnight bag.

"... It's even wiped a few off the map. I mean, one person gets their wish, it's trouble. But everyone gets their wish..." 

The archangel finds his brush and begins counting the strokes as he runs it through his hair.

"It's chaos," Sam finishes. "Any way to stop it?" 

"Yeah, one way. We got to find the first wisher. Whoever dropped the coin in, and made the first wish; they're the only ones who can pull it back out and reverse the wishes. So for now, we've got a couple of nutso dreams come true. But once the word gets out about the well, things are just gonna get get crazier and crazier."

"Remind me tomorrow not to eat as much as I did this morning. English muffin is not as good coming up as it is going down."

Both brothers look at him, surprised by his seemingly sudden appearance. 

"Noted?" Dean says hesitantly. Azymis gives them a thumbs up and flops down on the bed the older hunter is sitting on. "Thanks. I'mma hit the hay." he says, curling up with his back to them. 

Not long after, soft snores can be heard from the archangel. 


	7. Over the Generics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two of the Wishful Thinking chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending is a little rushed, because I wrote for three days straight and really wanted to get this out of my drafts. Sorry!

Azymis is the first to awake the next morning. It's four in the morning, according to the analog clock sitting on the desk between the beds.

The room is dark and quiet, save for the occasional snuffle from Dean. The hunter is balled up on his side, facing the archangel. One hand is halfway under his pillow, brushing the gun there.

Azymis thinks that's a dangerous thing to do, but understands the intention behind it. Huffing, he takes inventory of the room.

Everything is fine, and Sam is sleeping peacefully on the other bed. He's a a lighter sleeper than Dean, so Azymis is careful as he slides out of bed and walks over to his overnight bag.

After searching through it for a minute, he just decides to take the whole thing into the bathroom with him. And for added measure, he thickens the wall enough to dampen any sound he makes in there.

His phone rings suddenly and he answers it quickly. "Hello?"

"Hey Azymis, how's the hunt going?"

The archangel switches to speaker and puts the phone down. "Fairly easy. It's a cursed Babylonian coin." he replies, looking through his bag.

"Ew. Which god?"

"Tiamat, the slimy bastard. I like Khaos, but I _hate_ him."

"Yuck. But Khaos knows how to throw a bomb ass party. You know I'm still finding glitter and catnip in my closet?" Ariel asks, flicking a leaf from a sweater hanging up. Azymis laughs, pulling out a pair of black cargo pants. "Baset was literally all over you, of course you are. I nearly missed my Engineering finals cause of that party." he replies. A camo shirt catches his eye, so he takes it out and places it next to the pants.

"I remember that. You were so freaked! Rama felt bad for getting you contact high and started crying."

"Poor thing. Platforms or chunks?"

"Platforms. You're a shrimp." Ariel teases. Azymis growls in annoyance. The Angel of Nature smirks.

"Wipe that smirk off your face. How's Mae?"

"Sleeping. He's been good so far."

Azymis hums noncommittally and turns on the shower. "That great. Maybe I'll pick something up for him on the way back." he says, checking the water's temperature. Not that it really matters anyway, but it makes for a more pleasant experience if the water is just right.

"That's nice. I'll tell him when he wakes up. I'll call you later, bye!" Ariel says before hanging up.

Azymis strips out of his fuzzy pyjama pants and tank top and hops into the shower.

***

  
When he emerges from the bathroom, it's 5:00 am. Sam is in the last stages of sleep, which means he's going to wake soon.

Dean is lying flat on his back, muttering. The archangel hurries over and touches his forehead. It's a Hell dream. Frowning, Azymis puts the hunter into a dreamless sleep.

Dean relaxes and turns over onto his side. Satisfied, Azymis pulls a worn copy of _Where the Red Fern Grows_ out of his bag.  
  
  


Sam gets up around 5:30 am, which is when the archangel finishes chapter seven.

The hunter yawns, rolls over and nearly dies on the spot. Azymis is sitting up against the headboard of the bed with his pillow behind his back, reading a book. That's not what has Sam shocked. Dean is curled up next to him, _with his head on the archangel 's thigh._

The younger Winchester has never seen his brother cozy up to anyone like that in his whole life. It seems completely out of character for the self-proclaimed macho man.

Some half-aborted noise gets caught in his throat, and the archangel looks over at him.

"Goodmorning Sam," he says quietly.

"Wha?" The hunter questions, looking down at his brother, and then at the archangel.

Azymis moves his book. Sure enough, like Sam pointed out, Dean's head is resting on his thigh. The archangel lets out a breathless chuckle. "I didn't even notice. Kokabiel used to do the same thing when he was young,"

"It doesn't bother you?" Sam whispers. "No. Should it?" Azymis asks, furrowing his brows. The archangel doesn't understand what the big deal is. Usually when he's at one of his houses, there's always someone sidling up to him to steal cuddles before slinking off.

"I guess not...," the brunette says slowly. He gets out of bed and pulls on a shirt. "It's just _weird_."

"Why?" The Archangel's piercing blue eyes pin him in place, seemingly analyzing his every move.

"Because... Dean's such a macho man."

"We both know that's not true. And who knows, maybe it's just a one-time thing."

  
  
  
  


After Sam goes on a run and takes a shower, Azymis retrieves breakfast.

The hunter is out of the shower by the time he returns, and Dean is still sleeping. The archangel gives him a salad and settles back on the bed with it.

"Thanks. What are you reading?" Sam asks. " _Where the Red Fern Grows_." Azymis replies.

"I never finished it. Seemed a little tragic."

The ravenette shrugs and dives back into the book, occasionally taking a bite out of his sandwich.

  
Sam opens his laptop and begins researching.

"Dean wake up. There's a burger."

The hunter sits up quickly. "Wha? I'm awake."

"Sleep well?" Sam asks. "Like a baby," Dean replies. The younger hunter opens his mouth, but Azymis makes a quick slashing motion against neck. "Weird. Azymis you sleep alright?"

"Yep." The archangel hands Dean his burger. Azymis picks up his book again and bookmarks his spot. As he moves to put it back in his bag, Dean speaks up.

" _Where the Red Fern Grows_? I haven't read that in years."

"You _read_?" Sam asks incredulously. Ashamed, Dean looks down at his burger. "It was extra credit for English." he mutters, picking up a newspaper.

Azymis frowns and sends a pointed glare at Sam. "It _is_ a classic. Anyway _Sam_ , what did you scrounge up while I was reading?"

"Uh, we got teddy bear guy, lottery guy, invisible pervert guy. They all must have wished sometime in the last two weeks. But who wished first, and how are we supposed to know who else wished for what when?"

"Well, it helps when they announce it in the paper," Dean says, taking the newspaper to Sam. He points to a picture underneath the 'Announcements' column. "Goes back a month."

While Sam and Dean are looking at the newspaper, Azymis pulls out his bookmark and slips the book into Dean's duffel. He can finish it when Dean's done with it.

"Wesley Mondale and Ms. Hope Lynn Casey have announced their surprise engagement." Sam reads aloud.

"Ah, true love."

"As the archangel of Love, I gotta say that sounds fishy."

"Best lead we've got."

"Well then, let's go."

***

  
They find Wesley and Hope's house fairly easily.

"Love begotten by magic is dangerous," the archangel warns as they get out the car. "Because it's not actually love. It's just obsessive worship. It's the one thing you can fake but not make. Love begotten by potion is the closest thing to real love, but it doesn't last unless you keep feeding whoever the potion."

"Yech." Dean says, ringing the doorbell. Hope, a small woman with magic glazed eyes answers the door with a wide smile.

"We're florists," Azymis tells her. "Come in!" Hope says, walking away from the door. They follow her through the house. "Wes! You didn't tell me that you called the florists for the _wedding_."

"Huh?" Wesley says, looking at Sam, Dean, and Azymisiel with a mixture of nervousness and surprise.

"You're the best," She kisses him on the forehead. "I'm gonna got get my folders." she says, leaving the room.

"Uh, o-okay."

"Wesley. How's it going?" Dean asks, walking closer.

"It's Wes...." the man trails off when he sees the Archangel's glare. "S-s. Aren't you the guys from the health department?"

"Yeah. And florists on the side." Sam quips. "Plus FBI," Dean adds.

"And on Thursdays, we're teddy bear doctors." Azymis says sarcastically.

"Huh?"

"Doesn't matter who we are. What matters is what we know."

"So, coin collector, huh, Wes?" Sam asks. "Oh, yeah, my... grandfather gave them to me." Wesley replies.

"Did you happen to 'lose' one of those coins lately? And by 'lose' I mean drop into a wishing well at Lucky Chen's and make a wish on it?" Dean asks.

"No, I- I don't know what you're, uh, talking about."

 _Lie_. Azymis can almost taste it. Hope walks back into the room, unaware of her fiance's unease. Wesley stands up nervously.

"Okay, now. I have alot of ideas, but, you know, we don't have all the money in the world. Wes is between jobs right now.(read:broke) Means more time for me. You know, I'm thinking a Japanese-ey Ikebana kinda thing."

"Oh that would be beautiful. Which flowers are you going to use?" Azymis asks. Hope flips through the folders. "Either roses or lillies." she replies. The archangel hums thoughtfully, trying to visualize it.

"So, Hope, uh, tell us how you two lovebirds met." Sam says, interrupting Azymis's thoughts.

"Oh. Best day of my life."

"I bet."

"Yeah! It's the funniest thing. We both grew up here, but I never really knew who he was. Not by name anyway," Hope sighs dreamily. "Until one day last month, it was like I just saw him... I just saw him for the first time. He was just... glowing. Oh, just glowing." She pets his face lovingly.

Wesley grabs her hand. "Uh, babe, can you get us some coffee?"

Hope nods eagerly. "Yeah, anything yeah." She kisses him. And continues kissing him. Azymis wrinkles his nose and averts his eyes.

Thankfully, after a few minutes, Wesley stops her. Hope bustles into the kitchen.

"Wes, we know. So tell us the truth."

Wesley sighs. "My, my uh, grandfather found the coin in North Africa, You know, World War II," He goes over to one of the many picture frames on the wall and takes it down. "And, uh, he brought it back. He, um, he said it was a real wish-granting coin, but that nobody should ever use it. Eh... It was all I had, and when he died, I thought, 'Well you know what? Why not give the coin a shot?'"

"Unfortunately, you need to reverse your wishes." Azymis tells him.

"Oh," Wesley chuckles until he realizes they're serious. "Oh. Ha ha, no, I'm not.

The archangel glares, letting his eyes glow with Grace. Wesley gulps nervously.

"If you don't stop it, something bad's gonna happen." Dean warns him. "Something bad- like us." Sam adds.

Dean pulls out his gun. "We _really_ wish you'd come with us."

At that point, Azymis knows the interrogation is over and decides to freak Wesley out by flying out to Baby.

It's definitely worth seeing the shocked expression on the human's face when he sees him leaning against the car.

"How?!"

"Trade secret. Anyway, I'm sitting up front with you two."  
  


***

  
"I don't get it. So, my wish came true. Why does that have to be a bad thing?"

"Because the coin is _cursed_." Azymis snaps. He's had enough of this town covered in cursed magic.

"Your town is going insane." Sam tells Wesley.

"Come on. You're gonna sit there and tell me that your relationship with Hope is functional, that it's what you wished for?" Dean asks.

"I _wished_ she would love me more than anything."

"First of all, _Poindexter_ , that is completely unhealthy. Second of all, she doesn't love you at all. She's just obsessively worshipping your existence above everything else. Hope has absolutely no free will, or a thought outside of serving you."

Wesley looks slightly taken aback. "Well, it's a hell of a lot better than when she didn't know I was alive."

Azymis throws his hands up in exasperation.

"You're not supposed to get what you want, man, not like this. Nobody is. That's what the coin does. It takes your heart's desires and twists it back on you. You ever hear of the whole 'Be careful what you wish for'?"

Suddenly, the whole car lurches, like they hit something.

"We just hit something?" Sam asks. "I didn't see anything." Dean replies.

"'Careful what you wish for'. You know who says that? Good-looking jerks like _you_ guys, the ones who've got it so easy because you happen to be handsome." Wesley complains.

Azymis turns around in his seat abruptly and glares at him. "Easy? _Easy_? Boy, I had to raise thirteen kids because my brothers abandoned them and my father wanted them _dead_. I nearly died trying to save them, and I couldn't save all of them. _Thirteen_ out of four hundred and eighty three children. I was _ten_.

Tell me Wesley, you have two living parents who are together, right?"

Wesley nods mutely.

"Me and my siblings only had Our Father and he _left_. My twin was drafted into a garrison and had to learn how to be a near-perfect soldier.

Dean had to raise Sam practically on his own, and Sam busted his ass for a scholarship to Stanford. So don't say we had it easy. You wouldn't know a damn thing about life being _Hard_." The archangel turns back around and flops into his seat angrily.

Dean and Sam share a surprised look over the ravenette's head.

"Where's all this insanity you guys were talking about?" Wesley asks after a minute.

The human gets his answer in the form of a young boy pushing a car onto it's side.

"That should cover it." Dean says. They all watch in horror as the kids inside scream in terror.

"Kneel before Todd! KNEEL BEFORE TODD!" he yells at the sky. Todd turns back to the car and rocks it.

"Alright," Dean hurries out the car. Azymis scrambles out after him. "We'll handle Todd, you get Wes to Lucky Chen's. Go!"

Dean and Azymis cross the street quickly. The boy turns around, glaring at them.

"Hey kid, can we talk to you for a second?"

"Get out of my way!" Todd snaps, walk towards them. Azymis holds his hands up in a non-threatening manner. "No one is trying to get in your way Todd."

"Look, I-I know the score. Okay? They're- they're bullying you,"

"Every day. Every day! You do not know what it's like!"

"No, no, I don't. But, you know, you're you and I'm me, so," Dean says. Behind him, Azymis facepalms.

"Couldn't stop them. I couldn't do anything. Then Audrey Elmer told me the wishing well worked." Todd explains.

The Archangel's heart aches for the poor boy. He wonders where Todd's parents are, and then decides to text a old coworker to looks into Audrey and Todd's families.

"Okay, okay. Look- look, I get it. They're- they're mean little jerks, huh? But they're not superhuman like you. You see, with great power, comes great, great-" Dean is cut off by an uppercut from Todd, who looks fed up.

"Dean!"

"I'm good." he wheezes. Azymis turns to Todd a picks him up. "That wasn't-"

The boy punches the archangel in the cheek. It doesn't hurt him, only stuns him long enough for Todd leap out of his grip and kick him in the shin. The kick only stings a little, but the next punch does knocks a little air out of Azymis.

" _Dean_!"

The hunter stumbles out of the garbage to come to the Archangel's aid. "Hey kid!"

Todd immediately loses interest in Azymis and turns to Dean.

Azymis catches his breath and turns around. "Hey! No hitting the kid!"

Dean gives the archangel a sheepish look. Todd takes that opportunity to strangle the hunter.

"And no strangling Dean either!" the ravenette says, marching over to the pair. He pries them apart with some difficulty and holds Todd at an arm's length from his body.

"Put me down!"

"No. You just tried to kill Dean, " Azymis replies. Suddenly, the archangel feels lighter. The feel of cursed magic disappears. "He did it."

Dean stands up, massaging his throat. "I got a plan for those bullies of yours."

Azymis puts Todd down and kneels infront of him. "Before we do that, let me just tell you this; my name is Azymisiel. Pray to me, and I will come to your aid. This is only for emergencies, understand?"

Todd nods silently. Azymis beams at him, and looks at Dean. "Let's hear it."

"Just follow my lead, and you won't have a problem. Come on."

Dean begins backing up in faux fear. Azymis copies him, while Todd follows.

"Okay man, no more, okay?" Their backs hit the van next to the overturned car.

" _Please_ , let us go!" Azymis fake sobs. The boys climbing out the window watch them silently, trying to asses the situation.

"I wouldn't mess with this kid anymore if I were you." Dean says. "It might get messy next time." Azymis warns. They both walk away quickly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, if Todd prays to me because of them, I will come back. Then, I will see if it's a character flaw or circumstance that makes them pick on Todd. If it's a character flaw, then I will edit it out. If it's circumstance, then I'll text my friends in CPS."

"Oh. That sounded way more ominous before you explained."

"Duh. That's whole point. And open-ended threat doesn't specify the danger, only makes it known. It leaves it up to the imagination to decide what the danger is, which would be way more creative and frightening than anything I say."

"Wow."

Azymis stops for a minute and pulls a wad of hundreds out of his wallet. "Here. There's enough to pay for a nice hotel room and a little extra. Don't spend it all in one place." he says, handing it to Dean.

"You leaving or something?" Dean asks, deflating slightly. The archangel smiles gently at him. "I'd stay longer, but a certain biscuit-eater is awaiting my return eagerly. Just call me next time you want help." Azymis tells him.

Dean looks at the money, then back at the ravenette. "Ok."

Azymis leans up on his tiptoes and kisses his forehead. "See ya soon!"


	8. Thanksgiving Special

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Thanksgiving!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the first part. It feels a little rushed towards the end, but I didn't feel like writing anymore.

Dean, Sam, and Bobby pull up outside of Azymis's Virginian home in New Castle. It's fairly large Victorian style house; miles away from any neighbors.

Dean and Sam get out of Baby while Bobby gets out of his '71 Chevy Chevelle. They all stare up at the house in quiet awe until movement inside the house recaptures their attention.

Dean breathes in deeply and strides up to the front door before he can chicken out. Sam and Bobby follow suit after a moment's hesitance.

Before the hunter can knock on the door, it swings open to reveal Azymis with flour smudged on his cheek and apron. The archangel grins brightly at them and dries his hands off with a dish towel.

"Hey guys! You're just in time! I just finished pulling the last pie out of the oven." he says breathlessly, stepping aside to let them in.

The three hunters stare in shock at the sheer opulence of the interior of the house. The foyer has dark Santos mahogany flooring and dark walls that look like something straight out of a 1900's movie. Thick, black marble pillars divide the foyer from the parlor room.

A small ravenette child with big green eyes runs into the foyer and crashes against Azymis's legs. "Azzy! Azzy! Koko's tryin' steal some potato salad." he tells the archangel, who picks him up.

"We'll get him in a minute. Mae, do you think you could say hi to our guests?"

Samael turns his impossibly large eyes onto the Winchester brothers and their adoptive father. "No steal my biscuits?" he asks.

At the Archangel's prompting, they shake their heads. The tiny angel smiles at them, waving enthusiastically.

"Follow me please," Azymis says, walking away from them. "Mae loves biscuits as much as Dean loves pie, if not moreso."

"How much pie are we talking?"

"5 whole pies just for you Dean. Butter pecan, classic apple, peach, cherry and banana. But you have to eat some real food first before you get any."

"You drive a hard bargain."

Azymis leads them into a large room with six other people in it. One of them, who looks alot like the archangel examines the ceiling with great interest.

"Kokabiel Astrum Novak, you are on thin ice there son." the archangel says, pointing at him.

Kokabiel stomps one foot and pouts at his mother. "But _Mum_ , I'm _starving_!" he whines. His siblings watch the exchange with sympathy, hoping their older brother would not incur a punishment from their mother.

"Hi Starving, I'm your mother. And a few minutes wouldn't have killed you. And don't you think I forgot about you either Tzafquiel. I know you tried it too."

Wisely, the elder twin lowered her head and said, "I apologize Mum."

Azymis nods curtly before turning around to address the guests behind him. "Food is on the table, Dean your pies are on that other table but don't touch then until you've eaten real food; grab a plate and a seat and I'll have one of the kids put something on the TV." he tells them.

A person with white hair and pale eyes stands up slowly, beaming at the archangel. Azymis smiles just as bright back at them and hurries over to to hug them.

"Hello Mother. Hi Samael. I went ahead and made plates for you both," they say, gesturing to the two plates they'd just set down. "Thank you Sariel, you're a doll." the ravenette replies, handing the tiny angel to them.

The pair sit down next to each other. Azymis begins eating from his plate, and Sariel feeds Samael.

"Mom, can we watch Spiderman?"

"Which one?"

"2002."

"Alright."

Sam, Bobby, and Dean sit down together, not mingling with the Nephilim scattered around the TV. Azymis notices and sets his plate down. "Kids, this is Sam and Dean Winchester and their adoptive dad Bobby. Dean, Sam, Bobby; these are half of my flock of menaces. Kids, please introduce yourselves."

Sariel decides to go first, before their siblings begin their bullshit. "My name is Sariel. I am the sixth oldest of my siblings."

"They're basically a mini-Mom."

"Well that just makes me the most fabulous." Sariel sasses, flipping their hair over their shoulder dramatically.

" _Excuse_ you, that title is rightfully mine. I'm Kokabiel, but every calls me Koko. I'm the oldest." the black haired Nephilim across the room says. Sariel glares at their older brother, who sticks his tongue out in retaliation.

"You're just childish Kok. Call me Beth. I'm the third oldest and the most mature, obviously." a dirty blonde with blue eyes near the twins says. Kokabiel gasps dramatically, glaring at Beth.

"I beg to differ. I'm Nathaniel, but call me Nat. I'm the most mature and level-headed, not to mention the second youngest Nephilim." the carrot-topped woman with a nose piercing says. Beth glowers silently, but doesn't say anything. She knows not to dignify schoolyard taunts with a response.

"I'm Raguel! My coworkers call me Scooby though," a brunette male with dark blue eyes says. "I'm the youngest Nephilim."

"Tzafquiel and I are twins. My name's Tzadkiel and we're the eight and ninth oldest." the blond next to Beth says.

"We call them Tweedledee and Tweedledum." Kokabiel says. "Boo, you whore!" Tzafquiel retorts. Azymis immediately looks down at Samael, who is busy eating biscuits. Satisfied that the tiny angel wasn't paying attention, he turns his attention to his children. "Kokabiel, that was uncalled for. Apologize. Quiel, watch your mouth around Mae." he says.

"I apologize Quiel and Kiel, I was an idiot. We good?" Kokabiel asks them. Though it doesn't sound like it, the apology is heartfelt. The elder doesn't like when his younger siblings are upset with him. The twins look at each other, having a silent conversation. Kokabiel looks at them with anticipation.

"We accept on the grounds of you doing whatever we say for twenty-four hours. Capiche?"

"Crystal."

"And this adorable angel is Samael, and he's the Angel of Death. Azrael is covering for him currently." Sariel adds once their siblings quiet. Samael looks up, blinking owlishly before returning to his biscuits.  
  
  


After that, the room settles down and everyone watches Spiderman. Occasionally, someone will get up to get more food, which leads to everyone slowly grouping up infront of the TV together.   
  
  


Shortly after Aunt May is hospitalized, Azymis's phone rings. Beth pauses the movie immediately, recognizing the ringtone.

Azymis instantly answers it, activating FaceTime. A young woman with black hair and brown eyes appears on the screen, fixing plates in her kitchen. "Hey Ma and co., Happy Thanksgiving!"

All the Nephilim scramble behind Azymis. "Happy Thanksgiving Lixxie!" they yell. Tetrax chuckles good- naturedly. On her end, she can hear the pattering of little feet.

"Ah, you've summoned the little fiends." she says, moving the food higher. Two children run into the kitchen and barrel straight to the phone, grabbing it.

"Hi!" two voices yell.

"Hello Samandria and Dianne."

"Grammy!"

Azymis hears Dean snicker and hands the phone to Kokabiel. The elder Nephilim seizes the opportunity to cause some mischief with his niece and nephew. The archangel rolls his eyes and walks over to where Sam, Dean, and Bobby are.

"Grammy?" Dean asks, smirking.

"Hush you,"

"I didn't know you had children."

Azymis looks back at his kids. They're grouped around his phone, entertaining Dianne and Samandria. "They're the ones I could save," he replies. Upon seeing Sam and Bobby's confused expressions, he elaborates. "A few of my idiotic brothers tried to breed out the human race, which lead to Nephilim. Father did not like that and eventually came up with The Flood. I couldn't just let _all_ of them die; they were orphans! And though I was still young myself, I decided to save as many as I could, which was 13.

And I raised and angelicly adopted them, with occasional help from Remph and Raziel. It was hard, at times, but I wouldn't change a thing. Once they became adults, I took them a dimension of their choosing outside of my father's control. Lixxie, my second oldest, got married eight years ago. She has two kids, as you can hear, and they're human." he explains.

"How are they...?"

"After extensive genetic research and testing with a blood sample from both Lixxie and Dianne; Raziel, Sariel and I came to a conclusion. Nephilim have 23 human chromosomes, and 23 angel chromosomes; the latter not really being chromosomes but Grace. Children of Nephilim get the hybrid gene but it's one of those all in of nothing Gene's. So, because her husband is human, there's another human gene added into the mix. If you're using a Punett square, you can deduce the distribution of genes. But, though they are human, they carry a recessive Nephilim gene. So, they may get a little boost in endurance, precognitive functioning, and/or strength; but they are otherwise human."

"Oh, okay." Dean says, understanding completely. Biology was his favorite subject after all.

Sariel walks over, carrying a sleeping Samael in their arms. "I'm going to put him down for the night. Uncle Ariel texted me and said his ETA's in two hours."

"Alright, on your way back, can you grab some of those drinks I made?"

Sariel grins, nodding eagerly. They walk away quickly, with the angel snug in their arms.

Nathaniel runs over, holding the phone. "The kids want to say goodbye before Lixxe hangs up." she says, handing the phone to the archangel.

"Bye-bye G'ammy! We luv you!" Samandria says, waving enthusiastically. "Bye Grammy! See you soon!" Dianne says.

"See you soon munchkins," Azymis tells them before hanging up.

Sariel walks back into the room holding a serving tray with drinks on it in one hand and a huge glass bottle in the other. They set the serving tray down in front of the humans and gives the bottle to Azymis.

"Set up the karaoke!"

All the Nephilim scramble to obey the order, eager to be able to drink. Azymis turns to Sam, Dean and Bobby. "The red topped bottles are normal beers, the blue ones are the ones I altered." he tells them.

"Altered?"

"I'm very good at Chemistry and Biology, so I've made drinks and drugs for Supernatural creatures. The altered beer I made for you guys is quite strong, but safe. I wouldn't recommend driving if you drink it though," Azymis explains before turning to his children. "Alright kids! Grab a glass and gather 'round, cause some drinking's about to go down."

***

_BOOM! The ground shook underneath Azymisiel's feet and men screamed._

_"FALL BACK! FALL BACK!"_

_The men around him ran, and he turned tail as well. Archangel or not, this was war, and he couldn't stand still for even a moment. He'd spent most of his Grace healing and resurrecting all the soldiers he could, and he hadn't slept in almost a week. The archangel was exhausted, but the war wasn't over yet. He couldn't back out now, not when he was need. He was an archangel for Christ's sake._

_"Hey Speedy!"_

_Azymisiel looked to his right. Quentin, known as Quincy in the platoon, was running alongside him with a grin on his face. The kid was only sixteen, but he'd lied about his age like half of the young men in the platoon. He was the youngest of them all, and Azymisiel took him underneath his wings._

_"Private Q!"_

_The kid grinned wider, if that were possible. Despite being across the ocean and away from everything he knew, Quincy always found a reason to smile. It was one of the things the archangel liked best about him._

_"Corporal Azymisiel!"_

_To his left ran Vance, an eighteen year old Specialist who was also the corporal's right hand man._

_"I-_

_Too little too late, the Archangel's senses tingled. Quincy and Azymisiel were thrown a few feet in the air. When they hit the ground, the corporal was on his feet in an instant and he ran over to Vance._

_The kid's legs were gone, and his chest was blown open. His heart pumped feebly. Azymisiel didn't think, and healed him. Quincy ran over, worried about the Specialist and his Corporal._

_"Speedy! V! Are you-"_

_Another bomb hit, throwing the boy up in the air. Azymisiel picked up Vance and ran to where Quincy landed._

_"Quincy!" he yelled over the sound of men dying and weapons firing. The boy didn't move or respond. And it soon became clear why._

_A piece of shrapnel was lodged in the boy's head. Azymisiel screamed. It was deafening, and even Azrael and Samael heard it. The archangel knelt down next to the body, weeping._

_Quincy's lone eye gazed back. Azymisiel decided that the boy would not die on the battlefield. He took the shrapnel out and placed a hand on the boy's head._

_His Gace did the rest of the work. Quincy opened his eyes with a gasp._

  
_Deep exhaustion swept through the Archangel's body. Vance stirred in his arms, waking up. Azymisiel released him_

_"Corporal?"_

_Azymisiel's wings tingled warningly. He stood up and forced his legs to move. "You need to go, keep moving. I'll be right behind you." This was a lie. He wasn't going to be right behind them. There wasn't enough time. They turned their backs on him and he moved them forward with his Grace._ _And_ _everything went black._

_Suddenly, he felt like a small fledgling again. His vessel was nowhere to be seen. It was hot, and sticky and dark. Screams and shrieks started up out of nowhere and the sounds surrounded him._

_Azymisiel whimpered. He wanted Raziel and Remph to find him_ _and_ _take him home. Blindly, he began stumbling through the scary damp place._

_He heard pleas for help, and manic laughter, which chilled him to his core. The small archangel began weeping as he moved through the dark maze of dampness._

_A growl sounded off somewhere behind him. He froze, and that was his mistake. A large, misshapen dog leaped out of the darkness infront of him. At the same time, one leaped at him from his side. He could see his horrified gaze reflected in it's eyes._

_And then he felt_ **_pain_ ** _._   
  


Azymis screams, thrashing in his bed. Ariel is flung away by one of the Archangel's powerful wings.

Sam and Dean, who'd stayed the night due to the altered beer and tipsy Azymis's insistence, rush into the room.

Ariel makes his way over to the humans. "He's having a nightmare. I can't tell which one unfortunately. Don't touch him." he warns.

The archangel begins writhing in earnest, shrieking.

"Can you wet a cloth with cold water?" Dean asks. Ariel has a wet cloth in his hands a second later. The hunter takes the cloth and sits down on the bed near Azymis's head, ignoring the Angel of Nature's protests.

Carefully, he lays the cloth on the Archangel's forehead.

"What is he doing?" Ariel asks Sam. "Lowering his temperature. He's sweating like crazy. Dean would do the same for me when I woke up with nightmares." he explains.

Dean gently runs his fingers through his hair, murmuring to him absentmindedly. Azymis's frantic writhing dies down, and his shrieks turn into whimpers.

It takes a minute, but the archangel wakes up. Azymis feels like he got hit by a bus and got thrown into a volcano. But his forehead feels cool, which contrasts greatly against how the rest of his body feels.

"Azymis?" someone asks softly. It takes him a moment to realize who the voice belongs to. Slowly, he opens his eyes and turns his head. Ariel is standing next to his bed, looking anxious. Dean is sitting next to him. Sam is just inside the doorway, with a worried expression on his face.

"Was there a party? Why wasn't I invited?" Azymis asks, forcing a smile as he sits up. Ariel rolls his eyes and fixes the archangel with a look. " _Azymis_."

"I'm fine, really. It just a nightmare. I'll forget it once I have my coffee," the archangel gets out of bed and stretches. He sniffs his shirt and makes a face. " _After_ I take a shower. I smell like a sewer. I'll see you boys out when I'm dressed."


	9. TS: FAST

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another therapy session with Dr. Azymisiel Novak and Dean Winchester.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to keep Dean in character as much as possible. This chapter was a little hard to write if you can't tell!

Azymis calls Dean again. The hunter picks up the phone on the second ring.

"Hello Azymis. What's up?"

"Hey Deanie, how are you?" Azymis chirps. On the other line, Dean sighs. "Not my name sunflower." he says.

"I know. What are you doing?"

"Just letting Baby stretch her wheels. Why?"

"It's about high time we had another session, don't you think?"

Dean would really rather not sit and talk about his feelings with the archangel. He hated talking about his feelings with other people. But he knew the archangel could easily kidnap him and force him to talk his feelings (not that Azymis would). He'd rather it be on his terms.

"If I come to this session and talk about whatever you want, will you tell me what your nightmare was about?"

Azymis is shocked Dean remembers he had nightmare the morning after Thanksgiving. The archangel really doesn't want talk about it, but he knows Dean wants to talk about his feelings even less. Azymis would much prefer Dean getting his feelings off of chest over being comfortable.

"Alright. See you in a second," Azymis sighs before hanging up. The archangel flies to Dean's location and lands in Baby's backseat. "Hey Dean."

The hunter sighs, pulling over on the side of the road. "Hello Azymis."

"Before we go, do you want to take Baby back to the hotel?"

"Nah. Can you use your angel mojo to make sure no one touches her?"

"Of course," Azymis says, getting out of the car. He places a hand on the roof and whispers an forgotten spell from long ago. When he opens his eyes, (he didn't realize he closed them) he's satisfied to see it worked. The archangel grins at the hunter. "Look for yourself."

Dean steps out of the car and gives the archangel a confused look at him after looking at the Impala. "I can still see her." he says.

"But I can't. And neither can any other being on this planet. You're the only one who can see her." Azymis explains.

Dean grins widely, looking back at Baby. "Awesome."

Azymis places a hand on the hunter's shoulder and flies back to Southland, Texas.  
  


They land outside the office and the archangel unlocks it.

"Sit down please."

The ravenette snaps his fingers, pulling the folder labeled 'Dean' from a pocket dimension. It's an inch wide right now, filled with all of the blond's medical information.

The folder was given to him by Remph, who'd already knew that the archangel would be Dean's psychologist.

"What's that?" the hunter asks, curious. Azymis whips out a pen and begins writing down the goal for the session. "Your file." he replies absentmindedly.

"All _that_ from one session?"

"No. Remph, he's the Angel of Time, created this folder. All of your medical information is in here, including injuries you didn't go to the doctor for. He gave it to me before our first session."

Dean eyes the folder warily. He doesn't like the sound of some celestial being watching him without his knowledge. To him, it's just frankly creepy.

_And if some angel had been watching him his whole life, then why didn't they help his family?_

"And before you ask, I couldn't interfere any earlier. Remph wouldn't let me. He said if I'd saved your mother like I wanted to; Our Father would've been very displeased and came back. I would have been done away with and Mary would have been killed in some other terrible supernatural accident."

"Your father's a dick." Dean blurts. "He is," Azymis agrees with a small chuckle. He walks over to his chair and sits down. "That being said; today we will talk about your self-esteem issues."

"I don't have self-esteem issues."

"Having confidence does not equate to good self-esteem. You put yourself down alot, play dumb when you don't need to, and don't value your life."

Dean frowns. Everything the archangel just said is absolutely correct. He really doesn't think the best of himself, show his smarts, or value his life.

"Why do you play dumb?"

Dean doesn't answer, not right away. He thinks back to his childhood.

John always told him not to stand out, or get noticed. That if he did, the elder would be very upset with him. So he did the bare minimum, just enough to pass. Sam didn't understand why their father didn't want them to do their best in school and just ignored the order.

This lead to Dean forging John's signature the night before Sam had to take them back to school.

And though John would be angry with Sam, Dean could see a glimmer of pride everytime he looked at the younger's report card.

"Sam's the smart one. I'm the muscle." the hunter finally says.

"Is that what _you_ believe, or is that something you're reflecting because that's what people believe?" Azymis asks.

"I mean, they're right aren't they? Sam's the who went to college. Stanford infact; an Ivy League school. I dropped out of high school and just barely passed my classes."

"The founder of Tumblr dropped out of school and created it out of his bedroom. It's going to be big. Not as big as Instagram, but as popular Twitter. There are quite a few people who dropped out of school and made a name for themselves."

"But I'm not _them_."

"No, you aren't. But that doesn't mean you aren't as capable as someone who did go to college."

Dean grunts, looking away.

"When in doubt, FAST."

"Fast?"

"F stands for being fair to yourself. A stands for No Apologies, which means if it's outside of your control, don't apologize. S stands for stick to values; which means don't go out of your way to please people. T stands for be truthful. Be honest with yourself and others. I don't expect you to follow this to a T, but I would like for you to give it a try." Azymis explains.

"How is an acronym going to help me?"

"Trust me, it works."

"Fine. I'll try it." Dean relents.

The archangel knows the hunter is on the verge of shutting him out. So he doesn't press anymore, and writes down a summary of what they covered in this session plus the homework he's assigning.

"Good. Thank you Dean," he says when he finishes writing. "You held up your end of the bargain, so now it's my turn:  
I served in World War I. And I was dreaming about the day I died, August 31st, 1916. It wasn't pleasant, as you can imagine. And I also dreamed of when I was in Hell. I'm gonna spare you the details, 'cause it was pretty grisly, but thank you for waking me up."

"You died in the Battle of the Somme? The bloodiest battle in WWI? What were you doing over there? The US wasn't in the war then."

"I was living in Britain. Two members of my platoon, who'd moved there a few years back from the States, would have died had I not saved them. Unfortunately, it cost me my vessel." Azymis explains.

"You were in the military?" Dean asks incredulously.

"Yep. Death or Glory and Be All You Can Be." the archangel replies fondly. The hunter wrinkles his nose. "Army? Really?"

"Oh hush, you Marine brat. Anyway, before I take you back, I got some homework for you."

Dean groans, flopping back on the lounge. "Homework? I'm not in school anymore. You know, I'm not sure this whole therapist thing is working out."

"We can slow down the rate at which we meet if it makes you feel better," Azymis says, pulling a composition notebook out of a drawer in his desk. "Anyway, I would like you to keep a journal about anything you're grateful for. Whatever you write doesn't have to be long, and you don't have to write everyday. You don't even have to show me anything you write in there."

The blond hunter raises an eyebrow. "Then how would you know I'm writing in there?"

"I wouldn't know unless you tell me you are. I'd just have to trust you, which, I do."

Dean frowns. _Azymis trusts me?_

He looks at the archangel, and puts his behavioral analysis skills to the test. Azymis's face is open, and trusting. His body language is relaxed, which is something he's only seen Sam do in his presence. There's no sign of tension anywhere on the ravenette. "You really do trust me," he says in awe.

"Of course I do. You're a good man Dean Winchester."


	10. Shop til' You Drop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins and Ariel go shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this idea spawned out of me seeing Misha wearing a dress? Maybe? Is this something I think should happen more often? Yes.

_Hey Cassie, I could really use a hug from my twin."_ Azymis prays quietly.

Immediately, Castiel flies to his brother's location. The archangel is curled up in a ball on his couch; which is covered in blankets.

"Azymis?"

"Cassie." Azymis immediately gets up and throws his arms around his twin. Hesitantly, Castiel hugs him back; startled by the sudden action. "Are you okay?" he asks.

At first, Azymis doesn't respond. The archangel only tightens his grip on the tan trenchcoat. Castiel simply waits patiently, rubbing his back.

After a while, he pulls back and says. "I will be."

"Do you wish to talk about it?"

"No thank you. How have you been?"

The angel sighs tiredly. "Busy. Uriel and I have been given assignments left and right. And the demons are avidly trying to break the seals. I admit they have succeeded a few times to due to slight incompetence on my part."

Ashamed of himself, Castiel looks down. He doesn't want to see how much of a failure he is being reflected in his brother's eyes. Azymis places his hands on his twin's shoulders, saddened by Cas's low self-esteem.

"It is certainly not your fault that those demons broke a few seals. In war, battles will be lost. But the war can still be won."

Castiel doesn't look completely convinced, but his Grace flares brightly for a second. Azymis curses everything that makes his brother think so poorly of himself. "You know, shopping usually cheers me up. What do you say to some new threads?" he offers. 

"Threads? Why would I wish to have strings?" Castiel asks, tilting his head (adorably). Azymis laughs, throwing his head back. Confused, the elder twin just stares at him.

Once he's calmed down, the archangel explains. "It's slang for clothes Cassie,"

"Oh. Why do I need clothes?"

"Well, if you're trying to go undetected and blend in with the humans, you're not doing a good job. Wearing a trenchcoat in winter or summer will get you some odd looks for sure. Also, wearing comfortable clothes relaxes your mind and can help you de-stress."

"If you insist."

"We're going shopping!" the archangel exclaims excitedly. 

"Did someone say shopping?" Ariel asks, landing right behind Castiel. The angel jumps, startled by the Angel of Nature's sudden entrance.

" _My_ kind of shopping Ari. I'm taking Cassie here to get some clothes. Coming?" Azymis replies. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." Ariel replies, grinning widely.

***

They arrive at the mall pretty quickly, thanks to Azymis's racecar driving skills.

"What kind of fabric do you like?" Azymis asks Castiel once they're in the mall.

"Fabric?"

"Yes. Ariel prefers clothing made from wool; specifically cashmere. His vessel's skin is more sensitive than mine. I myself perfer cotton; specifically Egyptian."

Castiel gives his twin a confused look, not understanding a word he said. Azymis sighs, deciding to explain it to him at a later date in time.

"Nevermind. Just, pick out whatever you like. You can try it on later."

"Okay." The elder twin looks around, wondering where to begin. There are many different stores in the mall, and he doesn't have the slightest idea on where to start.

Ariel crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow at Azymis. He had a feeling this would happen, which is part of the reason he came. The angel knows Castiel has never bought clothes before and would be overwhelmed by the magnitude of choices.

Castiel looks back at his brothers, uncertainty and confusion etched onto his face.

"Let's go into this store," Ariel says, grabbing his wrist gently and pulling him into a random store. The Angel of Nature doesn't bother paying attention to the sign above it. It's not very large, and the clothes are spaced out instead of crowded together. The pink haired angel lets Castiel's wrist go. "Look around, see if there's anything you want."

"Alright."

Azymis joins Ariel, and they both follow along as Castiel examines several articles of clothing.

"I fucked up right there, didn't I?" the archangel sighs. "It was an honest mistake. He'll forgive you; infact I'm sure he's already forgotten." the older angel replies.

Azymis is not so easily convinced. "I should have been able to calculate the risk of overwhelming him."

The pinkette rolls his eyes. Being a perfectionist is something he picked up from Raziel. He's sure the angel didn't mean to teach that trait of hers to his younger brother, but the fledgling had learned it nonetheless. "Look Azzy, you shouldn't be concerned with being perfect. It's okay to make small mistakes. This one isn't even detrimental."

The archangel looks away, with a slight frown on his face. He wants to believe the Angel of Nature, but can't shake the disgust he feels towards himself.

"I think I like this," Castiel says, pulling Azymis out of his head. The angel is holding up a baby blue dress with no straps or sleeves.

Both Ariel and Azymis are surprised by the choice, but make no mention of it.

"Cool. Show me where you found this and I'll see if I can find one in your size."

Luckily, Azymis does find the dress in Castiel's size and sends him to the dressing room.

"I'm surprised he choose a dress. I thought for sure he'd get jeans, maybe a skirt."

"Well, maybe he choose it because he's seen me wear dresses before; regardless of whatever gender I presented as." Azymis replies.

Before Ariel can reply, Castiel comes out of the dressing room with a small smile on his face.

The dress fits perfectly on the Angel's broad shoulders and hugs his lithe torso comfortably. All in all, it doesn't look bad on him.

"Twirl for me please?"

Confused, Castiel does as requested, turning in a slow circle. Still, the effect works, and the skirt billows out slightly. Azymis claps his hands excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"You look beautiful Cassie! We're definitely getting you that dress."

"Thank you."

"No need to thank us Cas. What else is family for?" Ariel tells him.

***

  
They ended up getting the angel a few more dresses, a couple pairs of overalls, underwear, several button up shirts and pants, and some shoes. Around lunchtime, Azymis demands a break.

"Hey there beautiful," a dark haired man says to Castiel when they sit in the food court. Both Azymis and Ariel instantly become alert but remain silent.

"My name is Castiel, not beautiful." the angel responds, tilting his head in confusion.

"A pretty name for a pretty guy. I like it. My name is Gavin."

"Thank you?"

"What do you say we get out of here?" There's a predatory edge in the man's voice, one that the angel doesn't detect. Luckily for him, both of his brothers do.

Azymis grabs Castiel's arm gently and pulls him closer to him. Ariel stands up quickly, towering over Gavin. "Not gonna happen pal. Now you get on somewhere and don't ever look at my little brother like that again."

Gavin nods silently and all but runs away.

"What was that?" Castiel asks, confused on what just happened.

"He was flirting with you and was trying to separate you from us to do God knows what."

"What's flirting?"

"We can revisit the mall at a later date and time," Azymis says, standing up and grabbing his brother's bags. Ariel slaps down a hundred dollar bill on the table, picking up on the Archangel's intentions. "Clearly, we need to educate you on flirting and sexual predators."


	11. Di Immortales!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys find themselves in a furry situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hera and Aphrodite are Destiel and Sazymis shippers. And a spell they got from Mars, who got it from the Egyptians, who got it from the Norse makes trouble for our merry little crew.

Azymis gets a call from Dean at three in the morning. Immediately, he answers the phone. Despite his tiredness, he manages a "Hmm?" In lieu of a greeting.

"Hey Azymis, we've caught a case, out near San Fran. Can't make head or tails of it. Teens and adults are disappearing left and right. The only thing connecting them is that they were all in relationships." The hunter sounds like he's been awake for atleast an hour, instead of just waking up.

"Anything else?" he asks, rubbing his face tiredly. "Just a rise in the animal population, that's all." Dean replies.

"Get me a coffee and I'll call it even. Be there in twenty, capisci?"

"Why do I put up with you?"

"You love me Winchester. Don't you have coffee to go get?"

"Are you sure about that?" Dean fires back. But their's no heat to it, and the archangel can hear Dean moving around the motel room.

"Brat. See ya." Azymis hangs up the phone and stretches tiredly. Oh well. It wasn't like he was sleeping all that well anyway.  
  
  


And in twenty minutes, he's in dinky motel outside of San Fran, nursing a Venti Mocha Swirl.

"What's with the baggage? Thought angels didn't need sleep." Dean asks in a low voice, being mindful of his sleeping brother. The archangel comes down from wherever in the clouds he is. "We,- _they_ don't. None of them have ever been a fledgling, however. I haven't had downtime in awhile and it's just wearing on me a little." he replies quietly.

"Do you need to go? I'm sure Sam and I can figure this out on our own," Dean offers quickly. The ravenette shakes his head. "Nah. If I went home, I'd just pick one of my jobs at random and head in to put in 12 hours."

Which, if he was going to be completely honest with himself, was not the most healthiest choice. Considering he'd begun disassociating throughout the days, it was a little dangerous. But, he _had_ made good money over the past few days.

  
Azymis takes another long sip of his coffee. A little more of his brain comes back online, and something he hadn't questioned earlier reoccurs to him. "Hey, why are you up this early?"

"Had the usual." Dean admits gruffly.

"Ah. Hot and spicy?" _Meaning; about Hell?_

"Spicy and salty." So Hell with a little bit John Winchester flavoring. The archangel grimaces, glaring at the plastic cup in his hand. He won't push for details, not only because they aren't in session, but because he can see that his friend isn't in the right headspace to talk about it.

 _"A shot in dark-"_ Azymis immediately answers his phone, hoping not to have woken up Sam. The large hunter remains dead asleep, not even twitching. "Hold please," He turns to Dean. "I'm going to take this outside. Coming with?" he asks him.

Surprised, the hunter nods. And with that, the ravenette downs the rest of his coffee and heads out the door. Dean follows him silently.

Azymis leans against the side of Baby, and the blond doesn't have the heart heart to tell him off for it with the way he looks. So he gently leans up against her next to the archangel.

"Yo Arty, whatcha got for me?"

"My name is Artemis." she tells him. There's no real heat in her tone, indicating she's in a good mood. In the background, the archangel can hear Huntresses nearby. "So you keep telling me." Azymis replies easily.

"You and Apollo are insufferable. Anyway, I know Hera's up that way. Why are you asking?"

"I am _amazing,_ thank you very much. And I guess that would explain why people's partners are being kidnapped and the rise in the animal pop."

Artemis sighs. "I wonder what old Thunderbolt did this time to piss her off."

"Knowing Zeus, it was probably something stupid."

Quiet thunder rumbles overhead. The pair chuckle quietly, covering their mouths.

"Alright. Get some sleep before you deal with her. You kinda sound like shit."

Azymis huffs quietly, toeing the asphalt with his Doc Martens. "You know me too well Wolf. Until,"

"Until." she echoes, hanging up.

"What's the verdict?" Dean asks. Azymis sighs, stretching his arms above him. "We're dealing with Hera, a Greek Goddess. All the disappearances are due to her turning unfaithful partners into animals. Zeus has pissed her off again. We can deal with this later, I'm gonna crash in your bed."

***

  
Dean wakes up first, before Azymis and after Sam. He can feel the weight of the archangel leaning against his chest, and the weight of the laptop on their thighs.

He can hear Sam typing away on his own laptop. Azymis grumbles in his sleep, then jerks away from Dean. The hunter opens his eyes immediately, worried.

"Azymis?"

The archangel jumps, turning to Dean quickly with wild eyes. He relaxes immediately upon making eye contact with the blond. "Dean. Sleep well?" he asks, like he hadn't just woken up from presumably a nightmare.

"I should be asking you that, but yeah, I'm good." Dean replies. Azymis waves his hand dismissively. "I'll be fine. After this, I'll create something potent enough to knock me out."

"Hey Azymis, when did you get here?" Sam asks.

"When Dean called me. He was asking about the case." he replies truthfully.

"Why did he call you?"

"Ask him yourself. He's right here."

Sam turns his attention to Dean, who glares at the archangel. Said archangel gazes calmly back, raising his eyebrows.

"Dean?"

Breaking eye contact with Azymis, he snaps, "I woke up, and decided try and figure out this stupid case. When I couldn't make heads or tails of it, so I called Azymis. He figured it out, so we decided to watch Netflix until he fell asleep. Then apparently I fell asleep. There ya go Sam. Want to know planning on having for breakfast?"

" _Dean_ ," the ravenette says. Dean looks back at him, only to find himself at the recieving end of a disapproving Mom Stare. The one almost as bad as the I'm-not-mad-just-disappointed stare. "That was uncalled for. He just asking a question."

"Sorry Sam." Dean mumbles, looking away from the archangel.

Sam raises his eyebrows.

"Shut up Sam. That look is lethal."

"Anyway, I put in a call to my friend Arty and she told me Hera is up this way. Zeus must've pissed her off again. So all the missing people? They've been turned into animals for cheating." Azymis explains.

"Wait. You mean Hera and Zeus, like the Greek Gods Hera and Zeus?" Sam asks incredulously.

"You know Artemis?" Dean asks.

"Obviously. I'm friendly with most of the Greek Pantheon."

Both of the brothers eyes get comically wide, staring at the archangel in shock.

"What? I've been to celestial raves and parties. The Greeks are pretty dramatic, but I learned to roll with it," A rumble of thunder rolls overhead again in protest. The ravenette looks up at the ceiling, raising his eyebrows. The thunder dies out quickly. "Also, looking adorable helps when getting into their good graces." Azymis adds with a cheeky grin.

"Celestials have raves and _parties_?"

"Duh. What else are we supposed to do when we're bored? Anyway, all we have to do is ask her to stop."

"Just like that?"

Dean doesn't believe it'll be that easy. It's never that easy. There's a catch somewhere, he knows it.

"No catch. Hera sees me as an honorary Olympian and an equal." Azymis says.

Both Winchesters look skeptical, but simultaneously agree to be civil. The didn't want to upset the archangel by outright hostile to the goddess. And Hera hadn't actually killed anyone.

Dean feels his body begin to tingle slightly, at first lightly, but then the feeling intensifies. He opens his mouth to speak, but his throat feels numb. Azymis turns to him, sensing his growing panic.

The tingling feeling leaves as abruptly as it came, leaving the hunter feeling heavy. He opens his mouth again, but a bark cuts him off. Dean jumps, falling halfway into Azymis's lap, looking around wildly for a dog.

"Dean," The tone of the Archangel's voice sounds odd, like the same tone you'd use when you're trying not to alarm someone. Dean looks up at him. "Did you sleep/flirt with a waitress last night?"

 _"Yeah. Why?"_ The same barking noise happens again, startling him. And then he gets what the archangel is hinting at. Dean slowly looks down.

Instead of hands, two largish paws are underneath him. Those paws are attached to two furry legs, leading up to a furry chest that takes a little maneuvering to see. He's a fucking dog.

"That'll do it. I recommend not chasing every tail you see, especially in towns where halves of couples are missing."

" _Sonuvabitch_!" Dean barks angrily. Now he wants to kill Hera.

Sam laughs. "You gotta admit, it's pretty accurate. You chase tail like a dog and now you are one." he says. Dean growls at him, baring his pearly white sharp teeth.

Azymis sighs. "I'll call Cas. They like him well enough to say yes to both of us." He closes his eyes and reaches out with his Grace towards his twin.

 _Cassie, Dean's is in a little bit of a pickle and-_ Azymis doesn't get to finish his prayer before he feels his brother's Grace in the room. Surprised, he opens his eyes.

Two blue eyes are trained on his face, looking concerned. "Azymis? What happened? I came-" Cas looks down at the German Shepherd sprawled awkwardly on his twin's lap. "Why is Dean a dog?"

"That was quick." Azymis notes in astonishment. Castiel tilts his head, squinting at the ravenette. "You said Dean was inside a pickle."

"It's a figure of speech Cassie. It means that we're in a little of a tight spot. Hera's in town, and Dean flirted/slept with a waitress last night." the archangel explains.

Castiel's angel blade slides into his hand immediately. He's ready to kill the goddess for hurting Dean.

"Dean isn't hurt Cassie, no need to go Hulk on Hera. We were planning on asking her to turn everyone back. She's our friend, remember?"

The angel narrows his eyes and looks at Dean. "Are you in pain?"

 _"Nah, I'm good. Now all we need are some meddling kids, and we'll be in business."_ the German Shepherd huffs. He flops down in Azymis's lap, relaxing. The archangel scratches underneath his chin.

Dean is now in doggie _Heaven_ , and totally not listening anymore.

"What kind of friend does this?" Cas asks. "Well, she doesn't know Sam and Dean like we do. And I seem to recall a certain baby brother of ours who loved playing similar tricks."

Castiel grimaces, remembering the sort of tricks Gabriel liked to play. It was bad enough with Lucifer, but once Gabe had been created, no one was safe. Dean said he wasn't in pain, and he seems physically well, just furry.

The hunter, now dog, wags his tail a mile a minute. As a dog, Azymis's fingers feel 10x better than Magic Fingers. _"Azymis you're a god!"_ he groans.

"I'm flattered, really, but I'm just a humble archangel."

"You sound anything but humble right now."

" _Cassie!"_

The twins are interrupted by a yelp behind them. They turn around and find a Golden Retriever sitting in the chair previously preoccupied by Sam. Azymis stops scratching Dean's chin, causing him to come back to himself. He sees Sam.

 _"Damn. Now your puppy dog eyes are gonna be twice as affective."_ Dean barks.

"Why'd she change _you_ , I don't know. Come on Cassie, we should go find Hera." And with that, the twins fly off in search of Hera.

It doesn't take long, not with the two of them searching diligently. She's a the edge of a wood, and surprisingly, Aphrodite is with her.

"Hera, Aphrodite."

"Castiel, and Azymisiel. It's so lovely to see you two," Hera says, smiling fondly at the pair. "Especially you Castiel, you haven't grace us with your presence in a while." Aphrodite adds.

The goddesses are perched on two perfectly cut tree stumps, and completely relaxed.

"We have come to ask you to turn the townspeople back into humans please. As much as I love cheaters getting their due, this is turning some heads."

Aphrodite pouts ethereally. "Alright, the townspeople will turn back tonight." Hera says, crossing her legs.

"And what about Sam and Dean?" Castiel asks.

The goddesses look at each other nervously. "Wellll.... Look, they cheated on you two, okay? And well, you're our friends, and Azzy is an honorary Olympian."

"Guys, it's only cheating if they're actually with us. Destiel will happen on it's own time. And Sam is with Ruby, and he seems to love her."

"We may or may not have used a spell we got from Mars, who got it from the Egyptians, who got it from the Norse." Hera blurts.

Angry, Castiel flicks his wrist, unsheathing his blade.

Everything goes dark.

***

  
When Azymis comes back to, it's as a dog. A Border Husky, Castiel, lies next to him, knocked out. He sits up, looking around.

They're back in the motel room. Sam is knocked out by the door, and Dean's heartbeat can be heard from the bathroom.

The arch-dog gathers his wings flaps them. He gets about eighteen feet away before his wings give out. Sighing, he pads over to the Impala and stands on his hind legs infront of the side mirror.

He's a Bernese Mountain Dog. A panicked yelp and a tug on his Grace has him back into the motel room in a second. Castiel has somehow tangled himself up in the curtains. Azymis grabs his brother by the scruff of his neck and _pulls_.

Cas comes tumbling free, sprawled at his brother's paws. The commotion wakes up Dean and Sam, who do a double take upon seeing the twins. The archangel looks over his shoulder at them.

_"Bad news, Cassie and I are dogs now. Good news; the townspeople aren't animals anymore."_

A note appears out of thin air and lands on Cas's nose. Azymis carefully takes it in his teeth and lays it on the carpet.

ժҽαɾ αzzվ αղժ cαsԵíҽl,

sօ sօɾɾվ բօɾ Եմɾղíղց վօմ íղԵօ ժօցs! հҽɾα թαղíckҽժ ահҽղ sհҽ sαա Եհҽ ճlαժҽ! վօմɾ ճɾօԵհҽɾ ís բɾíցհԵҽղíղց ահҽղ sօตҽօղҽ ตҽssҽs աíԵհ հís հմղԵҽɾ! í cօղԵαcԵҽժ հҽcαԵҽ, ահօ sαíժ sհҽ cαղ ตօsԵ líkҽlվ մղժօ íԵ. մղբօɾԵմղαԵҽlվ, sհҽ's Եíҽժ մթ բօɾ Եհɾҽҽ աҽҽks. sհҽ թɾօตísҽs Եօ cօตҽ Եօ վօմ ահҽղ sհҽ's ժօղҽ Եհօմցհ.

xօxօxօ, հҽɾα αղժ αթհɾօժíԵҽ 

_"Worse news; we're stuck like this for three weeks. Good news, Hecate can reverse this as soon as she finishes her business. Better news; We'll be back before Christmas!"_ Azymis woofs after reading the note.

 _"Apparently I scared the goddesses."_ Castiel grumbles, scratching his ear.

_"Cassie, you were hella angry when you found out they used a different spell on you two. Shit, if I were them I would have ran. And Sam, you being turned into a dog was a misunderstanding on their part, sorry."_

_"But they said-"_

Azymis silences his brother with a growl. _"A Mis. Under. Standing."_

_"Great. We're stuck as dogs for three weeks. What could go wrong?"_


	12. Bells and Collars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas and Dean get sent to a shelter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I've never worked at a shelter before, so I don't know exactly how one works. I'm going off of Google right now, so if you see any inaccuracies, please tell me.
> 
> Sorry if the ending seems rushed!

After Azymis managed to move Sam and Dean's duffles into Baby and rendered her invisible, the four dogs were at a loss on what to do next.

 _"Where do we go?"_ Sam asks.

 _"I have property out in Lakeport. Let me see if I can reach Ariel so he can take us there."_ Azymis replies. But when he reaches out to his older brother, what feels like a wall blocks him. Startled, the dog visibly recoils.

In an instant, Castiel is on his brother, sniffing worriedly. _"Azymis? What's wrong?"_

 _"I can't reach out to Ariel. It's like there's a wall or something blocking me,"_ he whines. All his life, he's been able to reach out to his brothers whenever he needed to. Now he can't, and the concept is quite frightening. _"We'll have to walk."_

 _"Wait-"_ Dean gets cut off by telltale sound of a shotgun being cocked. All four of them look towards the office, where the manager is pointing the gun at them.

"Get off my property!"

 _"Run!"_ Azymis barks, turning tail and pelting out the parking lot as fast as he can. Cas is right on his heels, with Sam and Dean bringing up the rear.

They don't stop until the motel is well out of sight. Azymis skids to a stop and flops over on some grass near a road.

 _"Oh gods, that was kinda terrifying,"_ he pants. Dean flops on the mountain dog's flank, also panting heavily. _"My paws hurt,"_ he whines. Cas makes himself at home against his twin's back. Sam simply worms his way in between Dean's forelegs.

 _"Azymis?"_ Cas pipes up minute later.

_"Yea?"_

_"My heart rate is elevated and my body is shaking. I can't seem to stop it from happening."_

Azymis realizes that yes, indeed, his brother is shaking. _"Oh! You're scared."_ He slides out from underneath Dean and Sam and licks Cas's muzzle before laying across him.

_"How can I be scared? I am perfectly fine."_

_"You may think you're fine, but your body is responding to fear stimuli. And that's perfectly normal."_ Azymis reassures Cas.

_"But I'm an angel. I should not-"_

Azymis cuts him off quickly. _"Be that as it may; we're currently stuck in dog bodies with only a portion of our power."_

Castiel huffs, falling quiet and soaking up the warmth from his brother's body.

They stay there for a minute longer before they're all climbing to their feet and continuing their walk.  
  
_"So where are we headed to right now anyway?"_ Dean asks, trudging across the pavement. The cement under his paws is wet from rainfall, and it's not the nicest feeling. He's just about to complain about it when Azymis replies, _"The Golden State Bridge. It'll be faster and easier than trying to catch a ferry."_

Azmyis turns into an alley and the others follow behind him. Crumpled cans litter the ground, and trashcans are crammed along the wall on the right. On the left wall are two faded dark green dumpsters stained with gum and other substances. 

Cas hears a weird grinding noise and a squeak from behind them. Curious, he stops and turns around to see a van pull up next to the mouth of the alley. On the side in dark, bold letters, it proclaims: DOG WARDEN. He's never heard of such a thing before, so he walks closer to get a better look. 

Dean looks back, noticing that Cas's scent had moved away from the group. He sees Cas walking towards a dogcatcher van. His eyes widen and he runs after him. 

_"Cas! What are you doing?"_ he whines. 

Cas looks back at him, missing a woman leaping out of the van and quickly slipping the loop of a catch pole over his head. But Dean notices and he lunges forward to help him. What he didn't count on was the lady having a partner, and before he can avoid the second metal loop, it's already around his neck. 

Azymis hears the struggle and looks over his shoulder. He sees their dilemma and knows that there's no way that he and Sam can help them because he can sense another human in the van. Sam hears Azymis stop and looks over his shoulder. He sees Dean and Cas being dragged into the dogcatcher van and bares his teeth, preparing to charge forward to save them. Azymis bites the back of his neck as he moves forward. _"There's a third human in the van, we can't take them on!"_ he whines through a mouthful of Sam's scruff.

_"Can't you angel mojo them or something?"_

_"Like I told Cas earlier, we only have a portion of our power. I can't knock them out, and even if I could fight these people off, what if one of them gets you? You don't have the kind of power that Cas and I do."_

The van doors slam closed, stopping Sam from replying. He and Azymis watch as the van pulls off. 

_"It's getting away! What do we do now?"_ Sam barks. _"To be honest? I'm not entirely sure."_ Azymis replies.

...

 _"Let us go! Let us go!"_ Cas barks at the human watching over the animals in the back. _"Cas, calm down. I've seen Lady and the Tramp- they'll muzzle you if they think you're aggressive."_ Dean sighs. 

Cas turns to him, scared. _"Dean, what's happening?"_ he whines. Dean glares at the man watching them and looks at the shaking dog next to him. _"Well, we've been caught by dog catchers. They're gonna take us to a shelter. It's where homeless animals go."_ He decides not to tell him that there's a chance they could be euthanized if they don't get adopted.

  
_"But we're not animals. You're the Righteous Man and I'm an Angel of The Lord- Azymis! We left our brothers behind! What if something happens to them?_ " Cas yelps, panicking. 

"What's going on back there?" the driver asks. 

"One of the dogs is spazzing. I'll check on it." the man in the back says. He stands up. Dean growls at him, and falters seeing the anger and determination in the dog's eyes.

 _"Cas, look at me,"_ Dean says, turning in his cramped cage. Cas looks up at him with tears in his eyes. _"Everything will be fine. We won't be here long, I guarantee. Our brothers will be fine. They're smart kids, I'm sure they know what's happened and are already trying to figure out how to find us."_

_"Really?"_

_"Really."_ Dean sighs and lays his head on his paws. Cas copies him, and the German Shepherd tries not to think about how close their muzzles are. 

"You know, these two kind of act like mates. You think we got a couple on our hands?" he hears one of the humans ask. 

"Possibly. Means they might be runaways instead of strays."

 _"Dean? Are you okay? Your heart is pounding quickly."_ Cas says, drawing his attention away from the humans. _"I'm fine Cas. Don't worry about it. Sounds like we're here anyway."_ Dean says. 

The van stops as he finishes the sentence, and the man who was watching them stands up and grabs a leash and collar hanging on the wall. The woman in the passenger seat gets out of the van and opens the back doors. The man grabs the keys and unlocks Cas's cage. Cas flinches, scrambling away from the hand reaching for him.

_"Dean what is he doing?"_

_"He's trying to take you out of the van and into the building."_ Dean explains. Castiel relaxes, and allows the man to put the collar on him.

"Good boy," the man says. Castiel only looks at Dean, and then lets the man lead him out of the van. But as soon as the man tries to take him inside, he plants his furry ass on the ground and doesn't move. "C'mon boy, let's go."

Cas turns his head towards Dean and stares at him, ignoring the man's attempts to get his attention. Dean sits up slowly, and asks, _"Cas? What's wrong? Why aren't you going in?"_

 _"I will not leave without you Dean. We have to stick together to ensure our escape,"_ Cas replies, puffing his chest out. He drops his head a bit and looks up at Dean with those big blue eyes. _"Besides, I don't like the idea of being out of each other's sight."_

And how could Dean say no to those puppy eyes? He rolls his eyes, ignoring the fuzzy feeling in his chest. _"Alright Cas,"_ He stands up and paws at the cage door. _"Hey lady! Let me out!"_ he barks. 

The woman looks at him, and then back at her coworker. "Should I.. take him out?"

"Uh.. I guess? Hopefully he isn't as difficult as this dog over here."

Cas huffs, rolling his eyes. The lady takes the keys from the man and hops up into the van. She grabs another collar and leash and opens Dean's cage. 

Without warning, Dean slips out the cage and jumps out of the van. "Dan, grab him he's…," the woman stops yelling when she realizes that he's not running away. In fact, he sits next to the other dog and looks back at her as if to say, 'what's taking you so long?'

Dan looks down at the German Shepherd in surprise. Darrell, the driver, came around behind the van, having heard the commotion. "What's going on?"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say these two are humans in dog bodies," Dan says.

 _You think?_ Dean snorts. Cas decides to stand up and start pulling Dan towards the building. He was starting to get cold, and he's sure Dean is too. 

"Woah there buddy!" Dan says, nearly falling over. The Border Husky is alot stronger than he expected. Dean moves past him quickly, wanting inside as well. He'd never say it out loud, but he was starting to get cold. _"Race you!"_ he barks as passes Castiel.

The door is about three yards away, and Dean's determined to get there first. He picks up speed, figuring it won't take long for Cas to begin dragging Dan.

Cas throws his weight against the resistance of the leash holding him. After a couple of lunges, it snaps, leaving him able to give chase. He ignores the human's shouts in favor of trying to catch up with Dean.

As luck has it, Dean does reach the door first. When he looks over his shoulder, he's surprised to see Cas running towards him without Dan or a leash. _"What happened to the leash Astro-dog?"_

Cas, having grown used to Dean's confusing references, only tilts his head in acknowledgement to the nickname.

_"I broke it."_ he replies when he reaches the door. Dean raises his eyebrows. _"Impressive,"_ A smug grin stretches across his muzzle. _"But I still won."_

Cas glares. _"It's Dan's fault. Stupid leash."_

 _"Or maybe you're just a sore loser, Astro-dog,"_ Dean teases. Cas pushes him onto his side, and bares his teeth at Dean's throat, growling loudly.

"Oh shit!" Darrell says, staring at the two dogs. 

"Uh... anyone got a tranq? There's no way that German Shepherd won't attack that small dog."

Surprisingly, the bigger dog only lays there, baring his throat and belly. The smaller dog has stopped growling, but his stance is still aggressive. 

_"I demand a fair rematch Dean."_ Cas says. Then he licks Dean's cheek and sits down like nothing happened. 

_"Dude, did you just lick me?"_ Dean asks, trying to rub off the sticky saliva as he sits up.

 _"I am sorry, I don't know what came over me,_ " Cas says, ducking his head. Dean can't stand how pitiful he looks, so he leans over and licks Cas's muzzle. _"Don't sweat it. Now we're even."_

Cas wags his tail happily and looks over at the humans watching them in shock. _"You know, I believe we could have made our escape already."_ he says. 

_"Nah, the van's blocking the only exit."_

_"I could fly us through it,"_ Cas offers. Dean shakes his head. _"And expose yourself? It's risky Cas, and dangerous. What if the government gets wind of our disappearing act? They'll want to experiment on you, and I can't let that happen."_ he says. 

_"Ok Dean."_

Cas jumps when he feels someone creeping up on them. He turns his head slowly, glaring into the eyes of a startled Darrell who's holding two leashes and a collar. _"Give the guy a break, I'm sure they're cold and just want to get us inside where it's warm."_ Dean tells Cas. He shivers slightly and walks over to the man slowly, making eye contact. 

Darrell slips the collar over Dean's head and attaches the leash. Cas looks at Dean, and then at the man. Sighing, he walks over to them and sits next to Dean. _"I don't like this,"_ he grumbles as a new leash is attached to his collar. 

_"I know Cas."_ Darrell leads them into the building. _"No dog likes it. It's non-consensual imprisonment. Kinda necessary, but poorly handled most of the time."_ Dean replies. 

"Amy, why don't you take Zepp here into Examination Room B, and I'll take Blues Clues here over to Examination Room C," Dan says, handing Dean's leash over to the woman.

"Why Zep?" 

"It's short for Zeppelin. He looks like a Zeppelin kind of dog."

Dean barks his agreement, wagging his tail happily. 

"Reasonable. But you can't name the other dog Blues Clues Dan!" Amy says.

"Why not?"

"First of all, he looks nothing like Blue, and second of all; you can't put a kid-friendly name on a dog that isn't so kid-friendly. It'd be false advertisement."

"Fine. How about Columbo?"

"Better. C'mon Zepp," Amy says, tugging on Dean's leash. Dean allows her to begin leading him into the exam room. Cas goes to follow, but Dan stops him.

"Not that way. You get your own room." 

_"Dean!"_ Cas yelps. Dean turns around quickly, and sees Dan trying to drag him into a different room. Cas's eyes are wide and fearful, which pulls on his heartstrings. 

"Em!"

 _"Calm down Cas,"_ Dean tells him. _"They're probably going to give you a check up real quick- wait HEY!"_ Em, he assumes, sticks Cas in the shoulder with a syringe no doubt filled with a sedative. 

_"Dean what did she give me?!"_ There's terror in Cas's voice and his eyes, which makes Dean angry. _"Probably a sedative, but don't worry- CAS!"_ His eyes roll up and he drops to the ground quickly. 

Dean lunges forward, ripping the leash out of Amy's hand and runs over to Cas. Cas doesn't move at all. Trying not to panic, he drags him away from Dan and stands over him protectively. _"Don't you come any closer to us!"_ he barks at the humans. _"Cas, c'mon, shake it off Astro dog."_

Castiel still doesn't move. Dean licks his cheek, whining. Cas's tail twitches.

_"Cas? Wake up buddy!"_

_"Dean?"_ Cas yawns. Dean nudges him until he's sitting up. _"You okay?"_

_"Yes. Whatever it was, it's mostly out of my system now."_ he says, getting up. Dean glares at the humans as he leads Cas into Examination Room B.

_"Dean?"_

_"Yeah Cas?"_ he says, jumping onto the table. _"Thank you for protecting me while I was unconscious."_ Cas jumps up next to Dean and licks his ear.

_"No problem. But you gotta stop licking me."_

_"Why? Is that not how dogs show appreciation towards each other?"_

Dean sighs, and resigns himself to being licked for the rest of his time as a dog. 

Em comes into the room and gives them both a quick examination. Cas and Dean are given a clean bill of health, and a bath.

Dan and Amy are surprised to find out that Dean and Cas are both males, instead of a male and female like they'd originally thought. After the bath, Dean and Cas are placed in cages right next to each other.

When the humans aren't looking, Cas tears a hole into the wall separating him and Dean. The pair then settle down for a nap together.


End file.
